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Current Pain and Headache Reports
Published in: Current Pain and Headache Reports 8/2022

Open Access 27-06-2022 | Cluster Headache | Neuromodulation (A Abd-Elsayed, Section Editor)

Self-Reported Efficacy of Treatments in Cluster Headache: a Systematic Review of Survey Studies

Authors: Sakari Santeri Rusanen, Suchetana De, Emmanuelle Andree Danielle Schindler, Ville Aleksi Artto, Markus Storvik

Published in: Current Pain and Headache Reports | Issue 8/2022

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The use and efficacy of various substances in the treatment of CH have been studied in several retrospective surveys. The aim of the study is to systematically review published survey studies to evaluate the reported efficacies of both established and unconventional substances in abortive and prophylactic treatment of both episodic and chronic CH, specifically assessing the consistency of the results.

Recent Findings

No systematic review have been conducted of these studies previously. A systematic literature search with a set of search terms was conducted on PubMed. Retrospective surveys that quantified the self-reported efficacy of two or more CH treatments, published in English during 2000–2020, were included. Several key characteristics and results of the studies were extracted. A total of 994 articles were identified of which 9 were found to be eligible based on the selection criteria. In total, 5419 respondents were included. Oxygen and subcutaneous triptan injections were most reported as effective abortive treatments, while psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide were most commonly reported as effective prophylactic treatments. The reported efficacy of most substances was consistent across different studies, and there were marked differences in the reported efficacies of different substances. The reported order of efficacy is generally in agreement with clinical studies. The findings suggest that retrospective surveys can be used to obtain supporting information on the effects of various substances used in the treatment of CH and to form hypotheses about novel treatment methods. The consistently reported efficacy of psilocybin and LSD in prophylactic treatment indicates need for clinical studies.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Self-Reported Efficacy of Treatments in Cluster Headache: a Systematic Review of Survey Studies
Authors
Sakari Santeri Rusanen
Suchetana De
Emmanuelle Andree Danielle Schindler
Ville Aleksi Artto
Markus Storvik
Publication date
27-06-2022
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Current Pain and Headache Reports / Issue 8/2022
Print ISSN: 1531-3433
Electronic ISSN: 1534-3081
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-022-01063-5

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