Short-term effectiveness of simple advice as a withdrawal strategy in simple and complicated medication overuse headache

Background and purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of intensive advice (to withdraw the overused medication/s) as a withdrawal strategy in patients with simple and complicated medication overuse headache (MOH).

Methods: One hundred consecutive MOH patients were included in the study. Exclusion criteria were co-existent severe medical or psychiatric illnesses, treatment with migraine prophylactic drugs within the past 3 months, and overuse of opioids and/or barbiturate-containing agents. MOH was defined as complicated in patients fulfilling at least one of the following criteria: (i) a diagnosis of co-existent, significant, and complicating medical illnesses; (ii) a current diagnosis of mood disorder, anxiety disorder, eating disorder, or substance addiction disorder; (iii) a relapse after previous detoxification treatment; (iv) psycho-social and environmental problems; and (v) daily use of multiple doses of symptomatic medication/s. Withdrawal therapy was considered successful if, after 2 months, the patient had had reverted to an intake of NSAIDs lower than 15 days/month or to an intake of other symptomatic medication/s lower than 10 days/month.

Results: Fifty-one patients had simple MOH and 49 patients had complicated MOH. Eleven patients failed to attend follow-up visits (simple MOH=3, complicated MOH=8, P>0.05). Of all the patients included in the study, we were able to detoxify 79% (92.1% of the patients with simple MOH and 65.3% of those with complicated MOH, P<0.01).

Conclusions: Simple advice is highly effective in simple MOH and effective in most complicated MOH patients and should be regarded as the first step in a step-care approach to MOH management.