Vasoconstrictive agents have been widely used in the treatment of migraine.
These types of drugs have various side effects and are not suitable for ma
ny patients. Due to nausea or vomiting, nonoral treatment is often required
, but only a few nonvasoconstrictive drugs exist in a parenteral form and a
re suitable for the treatment of acute migraine in the emergency setting. I
n a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial we evaluated the efficacy of
1,000 mg lysine-acetylsalicylic acid i.v. (LAS) compared to 0.5 mg ergotami
ne s.c, in 56 patients (112 attacks) with acute migraine. To gain further i
nsight into the possible role of vasoconstriction, blood flow velocities (B
FV) were measured in intra- and extracranial arteries using duplex sonograp
hy and transcranial Doppler sonography. Both agents were equally potent in
relieving headache, Intravenous LAS resulted in a significantly faster reli
ef and had fewer side effects. LAS had no effect on BFV. Ergotamine increas
ed BFV in the middle cerebral artery only. No correlation was found between
changes in BFV and the relief of headache, This is the first trial to com
pare the intravenous formulation of LAS in the treatment of migraine with a
nother antimigraine medication and suggests that it is an effective and saf
e drug for the parenteral treatment of acute migraine attacks.