HEADACHES ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC USE OF ANALGESICS - A THERAPEUTIC APPROACH

We evaluated 102 patients attending the Headache Study Center of the U niversity of Modena who were suffering from chronic daily headache wit h daily drug intake. Patients underwent either day hospital treatment followed by a standard prophylactic therapy or they started prophylact ic therapy immediately. After 30 and 120 days, both the Headache Index and the daily drug intake had significantly improved (P<0.001), and t here were no differences in reduction of mean values of the Headache I ndex or daily drug intake with respect to the two treatments, nor with regard to the prophylactic therapy chosen. Twenty-eight percent of pa tients reverted to daily drug intake after a 4-month follow-up; these patients took barbiturate-containing mixtures in a higher percentage t han other drugs, and within the group of relapsing patients the outpat ients relapsed to analgesic intake more than the day hospital-treated patients (P<0.05).