Treatment Update of Chronic Migraine

Soo Jin Cho, Tae Jin Song, Min Kyung Chu

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose of Review: Although chronic migraine (CM) is a common disorder that severely impacts patient functioning and quality of life, it is usually underdiagnosed, and treatment responses often remain poor even after diagnosis. In addition, effective treatment options are limited due to the rarity of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving patients with CM. In the present review, we discuss updated pharmacological, non-pharmacological, and neurostimulation treatment options for CM. Recent Findings: Pharmacological treatments include both acute and preventive measures. While acute treatment options are similar between CM and episodic migraine (EM), preventive treatment with topiramate and botulinum toxin A exhibited efficacy in more than two RCTs. In addition, several studies have revealed that behavioral interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy, biofeedback, and relaxation techniques are associated with significant improvements in symptoms. Thus, these treatment options are recommended for patients with CM, especially for refractory cases. Neurostimulation procedures, such as occipital stimulation, supraorbital transcutaneous stimulation, non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation, and transcranial direct current stimulation, have shown promising results in the treatment of CM. However, current studies on neurostimulation suffer from small sample size, no replication, or negative results. Summary: Although CM is less responsive to treatment compared to EM, recent advance in pharmacological, non-pharmacological, and neurostimulation treatments may provide more chance for successful treatment of CM.

Original languageEnglish
Article number26
JournalCurrent Pain and Headache Reports
Volume21
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Soo-Jin Cho declares grant support from the Korean Neurological Society and Hallym University Research Fund 2016, lecture honoraria from Yuyu Pharmaceutical Company, and serving as a site investigator of a multicenter trial for Eli Lilly and Company.

Funding Information:
Min Kyung Chu declares grant support from Hallym University Research Fund 2016, serving as a site investigator of a multicenter trial for Eli Lilly and Company, and honoraria payments from Allergan Korea and Yuyu Pharmaceutical Company.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Keywords

  • Behavioral treatment
  • Chronic daily headache
  • Chronic migraine
  • Headache
  • Migraine
  • Pharmacological treatment

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