Tolerability and Effectiveness of Prochlorperazine for Intractable Migraine in Children Marielle A. Kabbouche, MD*; Anna-Liisa Bentti Vockell, RN, MSN, CPNP*; Susan L. LeCates, RN, MSN, CFNP*; Scott W. Powers, PhD‡§; and Andrew D. Hershey, MD, PhD*§ ABSTRACT. Objective. To study the effectiveness of Treatment of childhood headaches involves both prochlorperazine in aborting severe, intractable mi- acute abortive therapy as well as long-term manage- graines in children. ment. The use of pharmacological agents for abortive Study Design. Patients for this study were drawn therapy is often limited to over-the-counter medica- from the population seen and evaluated in the Headache tion, with ibuprofen shown to be an effective medi- Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. 4 All patients were diagnosed with migraine headache by cation for childhood migraines. However, at times, both clinical and International Headache Society criteria. children can develop severe migraine attacks, intrac- The effectiveness of intravenous prochlorperazine in 20 table migraines, or status migrainosis. Status mi- consecutive patients referred to the emergency depart- grainosis is often characterized as a migraine head- ment for severe, prolonged migraines was retrospectively ache that is refractory to standard treatment. This reviewed. term has also been applied to a state of intractable, Results. Patients evaluated in this study presented debilitating pain that can intensify progressively and with a mean headache severity of 8.4 on a 0- to 10-point is accompanied by the usual characteristics of acute scale and an average duration of 54 hours. At 1 hour, 90% of the patients reported feeling better with 50% becom- migraine. In older teenagers the incidence of status ing pain-free. A 50% or greater reduction in severity migrainosis in patients with migraine may be as high 2 occurred in 75% of patients at 1 hour and in 95% at 3 as 14% in girls, while lower in boys of the same age. hours. At 3 hours, 95% of the patients reported feeling During intractable migraines, parenteral interven- better, and 60% were pain-free. Only 1 patient failed to tion may be required. Patients may require emer- respond to prochlorperazine. gency department (ED) treatment with intravenous Conclusion. Prochlorperzaine was shown to be (IV) medication and IV hydration or hospital admis- highly effective in aborting intractable migraines in chil- sion. dren. It was well tolerated with no significant side ef- One therapy that has been observed to be effective fects. Additional large, double-blinded, randomized, pla- cebo-controlled studies are needed to further investigate for intractable headaches in adults is prochlorpera- 5 its effectiveness. Pediatrics 2001;107(4). URL: http://www. zine. It was first used to control nausea in migraine pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/107/4/e62; headache, emer- headaches, but the possibility of a dopaminergic gency department, abortive therapy, intractable headache, mechanism in migraines has highlighted its potential status migrainosis. usefulness as a direct treatment of migraines.6 A controlled study has shown that IV prochlor- ABBREVIATIONS. ED, emergency department; IV, intravenous; perazine is effective in reducing adults’ headaches in IHS, International Headache Society. the ED setting.5 Seventy-four percent of the patients had complete relief of their headaches 60 minutes after a 10-mg dose of IV prochlorperazine. Fourteen eadache is a common problem in children percent of these patients had partial relief, with an and adolescents. More than 10% of children overall response of 88%, compared with 45% in the 5 to 15 years of age have recurrent head- H1 placebo group. Prochlorperazine has been shown to aches, with the percentage even higher for older be most effective when administered intravascularly adolescents.2 This creates a significant impact on compared with other routes of administration,7 with daily life. Ten percent of children with migraines superiority compared with metoclopramide8 or keta- missed 1 day of school over a 2-week period and rolac.9 nearly 1% missed 4 days. This translates into 164 454 missed school days in any 2-week period in the In children, prochlorperazine has been primarily United States.3 evaluated for its efficacy as an antiemetic. In one study, it was shown to be well tolerated and to have good to excellent results in 90% of the 116 patients From the Divisions of *Neurology and ‡Psychology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center; and the §University of Cincinnati College of treated for nausea and vomiting who received a dose 10 Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio. of 0.2 to 0.4 mg/kg. Its efficacy in treating child and Received for publication Nov 15, 2000; accepted Jan 10, 2001. adolescent headaches, however, has not been estab- Reprint requests to (A.D.H.) Headache Center, Cincinnati Children’s Hos- lished. The use of an abortive medicine in children pital Medical Center, Division of Neurology, 3333 Burnet Ave, Cincinnati, presenting to the ED with severe, intractable mi- OH 45229-3039. E-mail: [email protected] PEDIATRICS (ISSN 0031 4005). Copyright © 2001 by the American Acad- graines has not been studied. In this article, we re- emy of Pediatrics. port our results on the effectiveness and tolerability http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/107/4/Downloaded from www.aappublications.org/newse62 by guestPEDIATRICS on October 2, Vol.2021 107 No. 4 April 2001 1of3 of IV prochlorperazine in a retrospective review of 20 quency of 20.2 (Ϯ 11.3) headaches per month, a mean consecutive children seen in the ED for a severe, duration of 10.2 (Ϯ 11.6) hours, and a mean severity intractable migraine attack. of 6.7 (Ϯ 1.2) on a 0- to 10-point scale. METHODS Headache Characteristics At Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, the All of the patients reported the same headache Headache Center has been established to study the clinical char- features as their typical migraine with the exception acteristics and treatment of childhood headaches. All of the pa- of the headache’s intractability. On presentation to tients were evaluated by a board-certified child neurologist and Ϯ pediatric psychologist. The patient’s headaches were diagnosed the ED, the mean headache severity was 8.4 ( 1.6) by both clinical impression and International Headache Society on a 0- to 10-point scale. The mean duration of the (IHS) criteria. An individual treatment plan was developed for current, prolonged headache was 54 (Ϯ 75) hours. If each patient using standardized protocols. These protocols in- the patient with a 336-hour headache was excluded, cluded abortive therapy, oral hydration during a headache, pro- Ϯ phylactic therapy when indicated, and biobehavioral therapy. the mean headache duration was 38.7 ( 35.0) hours. Children with an intractable migraine or status migrainosis were The most commonly reported associated symptoms advised to call the Headache Center nurse practitioner if their were nausea (85%), vomiting (55%), photophobia home regimen was ineffective. Children and their parents deter- (80%), and phonophobia (80%). Seventy-five percent mined when their headaches reached the point of unresponsive- ness to their home treatment regimen. Therefore, the definition of of the patients reported a throbbing quality to their intractability was determined individually. Information on 20 con- headache. secutive patients who were treated in the ED was gathered by the Headache Center nurse practitioners and the data were analyzed Prochlorperazine Response (Table 1) for this study. The mean dose of prochlorperazine administered was 0.13 (Ϯ 0.03) mg/kg. The mean volume of IV Treatment Protocol hydration with normal saline was 17.4 (Ϯ 10.2) mL/ Before referral, the patients were asked about the features of their current headache. This included their headache duration, kg. At 1 hour, 18 patients stated that they were better severity, and abortive medication use or hydration taken during (90%), whereas 2 patients were the same (10%). Their this headache. On arrival to the ED, therapeutic interventions mean headache severity was diminished from 8.4 (Ϯ were discussed with the staff. A complete history and physical 1.6) to 1.6 (Ϯ 2.5; P Ͻ .0001). Twelve patients (60%) examination were obtained to exclude alternate diagnoses that reported that their headache had resolved at 1 hour. might have been related to the prolonged headache. A ϳ0.15- mg/kg dose of prochlorperazine and IV hydration were then Of the remaining 8 patients, the mean severity was administered. Patients were contacted ϳ24 hours after discharge reduced from 8.3 to 3.9. There were 15 patients (75%) from the ED and asked about their overall responsiveness at 1 with a 50% or greater reduction in their headache hour, 3 hours, and 24 hours after administration of prochlorpera- severity. At 3 hours, 19 patients (95%) were better, zine and about side effects and impression. ED records were reviewed for dosing and impression in the ED. Response was whereas 1 patient reported no response. The patient graded by severity on a scale of 0 to 10, with response defined as with no response at 3 hours did have a slight re- any improvement, as well as by subjective response (better, same, sponse at 1 hour (severity from 9 to 8). The severity or worse). Resolution was defined as elimination of the headache, at 3 hours continued to diminish to a mean of 1.1 (Ϯ with the severity going to 0. The times of response, resolution, and 2.2; P Ͻ .0001). There were 19 patients (95%) with a disposition were recorded. 50% or greater reduction in their headache severity Statistical Analysis by 3 hours. Thirteen patients reported that their Student’s t tests for paired comparisons were used to compare headaches had resolved by this time. Two patients the effectiveness of prochlorperazine on the severity of migraine who continued to have a headache at 1 hour were headache, using time 0 as the baseline severity in comparison to admitted to the hospital: 1 received dihydroergota- both 1 and 3 hours later.