ReviewThe journal of headache and pain2017
Caffeine in the management of patients with headache.
Review in The journal of headache and pain, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03951649 (Acute Headache Treatment in Pregnancy), which is not on this map. Cited by 55 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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.
Acute Headache Treatment in Pregnancy: Improvement in Pain Scores With Occipital Nerve Block vs PO Acetaminophen With Caffeine A Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 126 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological approaches to manage Tension-Type Headache: a Systematic Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of simple analgesics for acute treatment of episodic tension-type headache in adults: a network meta-analysis.Annals of medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Pharmacotherapy versus photobiomodulation therapy in patients with temporomandibular disorders: randomized clinical trial.Lasers in medical science · 2025Trial
- Lack of Evidence for Blood Pressure Effects of Caffeine Added to Ibuprofen.Current drug safety · 2023Trial
- Pharmacokinetic Properties of Ibuprofen (IBU) From the Fixed-Dose Combination IBU/Caffeine (400/100 mg; FDC) in Comparison With 400 mg IBU as Acid or Lysinate Under Fasted and Fed Conditions-Data From 2 Single-Center, Single-Dose, Randomized Crossover Studies in Healthy Volunteers.Clinical pharmacology in drug development · 2019Trial
- Caffeine and Headache: Exploring the Multifaceted Relationship.Brain and behavior · 2026Review
- Article
- Unraveling the complexities of caffeine: metabolism, genetics, evolution, and health.Hereditas · 2026Review
- Assessment of Chocolate, Cheese, and Caffeine as Migraine Triggers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Patient-Reported Trigger Rates.Journal of nutrition and metabolism · 2026Review
- Impact of caffeine consumption on headache severity, sleep quality, and psychiatric symptoms in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension: a cross-sectional study.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Article
- Hallmarks of primary headache: part 3 - cluster headache.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Caffeine Intoxication: An Analysis of Published Case Reports, 1883–2023.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2025Review
- Hallmarks of primary headache: part 2- Tension-type headache.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Impact of Headache and Over-the-Counter Treatment on Pain and Functional and Cognitive Parameters: A Real-World Study across Three Geographies.Pain and therapy · 2025Article
- An Assessment of the Dietary Habits of Individuals with Migraine Living in Spain: An Exploratory Observational Cross-Sectional Pilot Study.Nutrients · 2025Observational
- Article
- Paracetamol and Caffeine Combination in Pain Management: A Narrative Review.Pain research & management · 2025Review
- Caffeine and Vision: Effects on the Eye.Turkish journal of ophthalmology · 2024Review
- TRPA1, TRPV1, and Caffeine: Pain and Analgesia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- The Role of the Combination Paracetamol/Caffeine in Treatment of Acute Migraine Pain: A Narrative Review.Pain and therapy · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Caffeinated headache medications, either alone or in combination with other treatments, are widely used by patients with headache. Clinicians should be familiar with their use as well as the chemistry, pharmacology, dietary and medical sources, clinical benefits, and potential safety issues of caffeine. In this review, we consider the role of caffeine in the over-the-counter treatment of headache. The MEDLINE and Cochrane databases were searched by combining "caffeine" with the terms "headache," "migraine," and "tension-type." Studies that were not placebo-controlled or that involved medications available only with a prescription, as well as those not assessing patients with migraine and/or tension-type headache (TTH), were excluded. Compared with analgesic medication alone, combinations of caffeine with analgesic medications, including acetaminophen, acetylsalicylic acid, and ibuprofen, showed significantly improved efficacy in the treatment of patients with TTH or migraine, with favorable tolerability in the vast majority of patients. The most common adverse events were nervousness (6.5%), nausea (4.3%), abdominal pain/discomfort (4.1%), and dizziness (3.2%). This review provides evidence for the role of caffeine as an analgesic adjuvant in the acute treatment of primary headache with over-the-counter drugs, caffeine doses of 130 mg enhance the efficacy of analgesics in TTH and doses of ≥100 mg enhance benefits in migraine. Additional studies are needed to assess the relationship between caffeine dosing and clinical benefits in patients with TTH and migraine.
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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.