Is Botulinum Toxin Type A Effective for Headache Prophylaxis?

A meta-analysis finds that it may be effective for chronic, but not episodic, migraine headache but not for any form of tension-type headache.

Headache is common in the community, with migraine and tension-type headache being the most common primary headache disorders to present to physicians (Headache 2004; 44:856). Frequent headache, called chronic daily headache, occurs on 15 or more days per month for 3 or more months (Curr Opin Neurol 2002; 15:287) and is the most challenging to treat. Chronic daily headache largely consists of chronic migraine (CM) and chronic tension-type headache (CTTH). Few controlled trials in these disorders have been conducted, largely because the definitions have been argued over for a long period and are only now standardized (Cephalalgia 2006; 26:742).

Botulinum toxin type A has been studied in both CM and CTTH and is the subject of a new meta-analys…

Reviewing Author

Peter J. Goadsby, MD, PhD, DSc

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardAeon Biopharma; Allergan/Abbvie; CoolTech LLC; Dr Reddys; Eli Lilly and Company, Epalex; Lundbeck; Novartis; Pfizer; Praxis; Sanofi; Teva Pharmaceuticals and Tremeau; Gerson Lehrman Group; Guidepoint; Massachusetts Medical Society; Vector Metric; UptoDate

RoyaltiesOxford University Press; Wolters Kluwer

Grant/Research SupportCelgene

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Headache Society (Immediate Past President)

OtherPatent on magnetic stimulation for headache assigned to eNeura without fee

Peter J. Goadsby, MD, PhD, DSc

Disclosures

RoyaltiesOxford University Press; Wolters Kluwer

Grant/Research SupportCelgene

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Headache Society (Immediate Past President)

OtherPatent on magnetic stimulation for headache assigned to eNeura without fee