Botulinum Toxin A as a Migraine Treatment for Children and Adolescents

Approximately 3% of pediatric headaches consist of chronic migraine, and many of these migraines are intractable to several preventive medicines. As of 2010 Botulinum toxin A has been approved for use as a treatment for chronic migraine in adults, but its use in the treatment of pediatric headache had not been well documented. A new study by Kabbouche et al. recently empirically evaluated the effectiveness and tolerability of Botulinum toxin A as a treatment for pediatric chronic migraine. For the study, data including headache characteristics, diagnosis, disability scoring, and treatments received was reviewed from 45 pediatric patients who had received Botulinum toxin A as treatment for chronic migraine. The study found that there was no statistically significant improvement in disability scoring or headache severity after receiving Botulinum toxin A, but did find that there was a significant improvement in migraine frequency. Subjects reported 27.4 headache days per month at their first visit, 22.2 headache days at their second visit, and 21.3 headache days at their third visit. The Botulinum Toxin A procedure was generally well tolerated with only mild side effects such as pain at the site of injection and swelling and pain in the eye lids of some subjects. The study concluded that injections of Botulinum Toxin A resulted in a significant reduction in headache frequency in children and adolescents with chronic migraine, and as such was a valid treatment option for patients with migraines intractable to other preventive medicines.