Natural History of Abortive Medication Withdrawal in the Management of Pediatric Medication Overuse Headache.
Emily L PierceAlexandra A MandelJeffrey A StrelzikRaquel L LangdonWilliam M McClintockMark W CameronEmily E McCrackenMarc T DiSabellaPublished in: Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) (2022)
Our findings suggest that medication overuse headache will improve in the majority of pediatric patients who abruptly stop the offending medication(s) in an average of 8 days from withdrawal. Average pain intensity was reduced by more than one point among all patients who stopped taking abortive medications. Further larger-scale studies on medication withdrawal in pediatric patients with medication overuse headache could help us better understand whether this management strategy is effective.