ReviewCurrent pain and headache reports2015
When indomethacin fails: additional treatment options for "indomethacin responsive headaches".
Review in Current pain and headache reports, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and Safety of Melatonin as Prophylaxis for Migraine in Adults: A Meta-analysis.Journal of oral & facial pain and headache · 2022Pooled it
- How can you manage an indomethacin-responsive headache in someone who cannot take indomethacin?Current opinion in neurology · 2025Review
- Complementary and Integrative Medicine for the Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia and Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgia.Current pain and headache reports · 2024Review
- Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias and Neuralgias in Children and Adolescents: a Narrative Review.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2023Review
- Indomethacin-Induced Headache: Causing the Problem You Are Trying to Solve.Current pain and headache reports · 2021Review
- Are repetitive pericranial nerve blocks effective in the management of chronic paroxysmal hemicrania?: A case report.Medicine · 2019Article
- Treatment of the Patient with Refractory Headache.Current pain and headache reports · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Indomethacin has been used for the treatment of headache disorders since the 1960's, shortly after it was introduced as a treatment for pain and joint swelling in rheumatologic conditions. A subgroup of primary headache disorders, often refractory to other pharmacologic treatment such as triptans and the usual non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, was noted to be exquisitely and absolutely responsive to the analgesic effects of indomethacin. These disorders have been better characterized over the past decade and classified into primary headache disorders of paroxysmal hemicrania (PH) and hemicrania continua (HC). Since the current ICHD-3 beta requires response to indomethacin as a diagnostic criterion, studies on alternative treatments in HC and PH generally occur in patients with intolerance to its gastro-intestinal side effects rather than loss of analgesia effectiveness. More rarely, the development of new headaches have been reported in chronic indomethacin use. In these settings, other classes of medications such as selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors (celecoxib), anti-epileptic agents (topiramate), calcium channel blockers (verapamil, flunarizine), melatonin, and local nerve blocks with anesthetic and steroids have been shown to be effective in case reports and series. We review the literature and provide our clinical recommendations on alternative therapies for the "indomethacin-responsive headaches".
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.