ReviewInternal and emergency medicine2020
Acute headache management in emergency department. A narrative review.
Review in Internal and emergency medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 3 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Practice advisory for intravenous management of headache disorders in hospitalized patients: a review of the evidence and consensus recommendations.Regional anesthesia and pain medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Risk of Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2026Pooled it
- Biomarkers in headaches as a potential solution to simplify differential diagnosis of primary headache disorders: a systematic review.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Pooled it
- Manchester Triage System: Effectiveness, Limitations, and Global Implementation-A Structured Narrative Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Non-Opioid Pharmaceutical Alternatives for Acute Pain Management in the Emergency Department: A Scoping Review.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Emergency MRI in acute dizziness and headache: current insights and future directions.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Review
- Article
- Diagnosis of subarachnoid haemorrhage: Systematic evaluation of CT head diagnostic accuracy and comparison with the 2022 NICE guidelines.Brain & spine · 2025Article
- Article
- Review
- Characterizing headache patients admitted from the emergency department: a retrospective study.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Chinese medicine for headaches in emergency department: a retrospective analysis of real-world electronic medical records.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Acute Pain and Development of Opioid Use Disorder: Patient Risk Factors.Current pain and headache reports · 2023Review
- Narrative Review: Low-Dose Ketamine for Pain Management.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Acute Headache Management for Patients with Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: An International Survey of Health Care Providers.Neurocritical care · 2023Article
- Lost diagnoses in not otherwise specified headache in Emergency Department.Acta neurologica Belgica · 2022Article
- Headache in the Neurological Emergency Department-High Degree of Inadequate Documentation Calls for Structured Assessments.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Cluster Headache is Still Lurking in the Shadows.Pain and therapy · 2021Article
- Headache Characteristics in the Neurological Emergency Department: A Retrospective Study.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
- "Triaging" Chronic Migraine Patients in Need of CGRP(r) Monoclonal Antibodies.Pain and therapy · 2020Article
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 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Headache is a significant reason for access to Emergency Departments (ED) worldwide. Though primary forms represent the vast majority, the life-threatening potential of secondary forms, such as subarachnoid hemorrage or meningitis, makes it imperative for the ED physician to rule out secondary headaches as first step, based on clinical history, careful physical (especially neurological) examination and, if appropriate, hematochemical analyses, neuroimaging or lumbar puncture. Once secondary forms are excluded, distinction among primary forms should be performed, based on the international headache classification criteria. Most frequent primary forms motivating ED observation are acute migraine attacks, particularly status migrainous, and cluster headache. Though universally accepted guidelines do not exist for headache management in an emergency setting, pharmacological parenteral treatment remains the principal approach worldwide, with NSAIDs, neuroleptic antinauseants, triptans and corticosteroids, tailored to the specific headache type. Opioids should be avoided, for their scarce effectiveness in the acute phase, while IV hydration should be limited in cases of ascertained dehydration. Referral of the patient to a Headache Center should subsequently be an integral part of the ED approach to the headache patients, being ascertained that lack of this referral involves a high rate of relapse and new accesses to the ED. More controlled studies are needed to establish specific protocols of management for the headache patient in the ED.
Indexed as
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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.