Clinical availability of SNOOP4 in acute non-traumatic headache patients admitted to the emergency department

Objectives:

Non-traumatic headache accounts for up to 4.5% of all patients presenting to the emergency department. Non-traumatic headache is generally classified into two categories: primary and secondary headache disorders. Differentiating secondary from primary headache disorders is essential. SNOOP4 is known as a mnemonic for suggesting clinicians send neuroimaging to rule out serious conditions. Yet, the benefit of using this mnemonic in the emergency department is not well established. This study aimed to assess the significance of SNOOP4 in detecting serious causes of non-traumatic headache in adults presenting to the emergency department.

Methods:

We conducted a prospective observational study of adult patients presenting to the emergency department of the single tertiary hospital over a period of 12 months. Patients with acute non-traumatic headache presented at the emergency department were included. A standard record form was used. Patients were investigated and treated following the pre-existing protocols. Results were interpreted by attending radiologists. Each factor, according to SNOOP4, was then evaluated for the ability to predict serious causes of non-traumatic headache.

Results:

A total of 90 patients were included in this study with complete details obtained on 83 (92.2%) patients. Of these, 63 (75.9%) were female. The mean age was 44.5 years (inter-quartile range: 27–58.5). The duration of the headache ranged from 10 min to 7 days. Out of 83, 27 (32.5%) had at least one SNOOP4 criterion. In all, 25 patients (30.1%) underwent neuroimaging. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of SNOOP4 were 77.8%, 73.0%, 25.9%, and 96.4% respectively.

Conclusion:

SNOOP4 criteria show very high negative predictive value for excluding serious causes of acute non-traumatic headache in adult patients presenting to the emergency department.

Pharmacologic Management of Acute Migraines in the Emergency Department

Migraine headaches account for approximately 1.2 million emergency department (ED) visits annually. Despite the prevalence of this condition, there is little consensus on the best pharmacotherapeutic interventions to use in the ED setting. Guidelines published by the American Headache Society and the Canadian Headache Society offer some direction to ED providers but are not widely utilized. This article reviews the best evidence behind some of the medications frequently used to treat acute migraines in the ED setting, including dopamine receptor antagonists, serotonin receptor agonists, anti-inflammatory medications, opioids, magnesium, valproate, and propofol. The evaluation of patients presenting to the ED with an acute headache, the diagnostic criteria for migraines, and implications for advanced practice are also discussed.

Oral dexamethasone for the prevention of acute migraine recurrence in pediatric patients presenting to the emergency department with migraine

Objective:

To assess the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial protocol that aims to determine the efficacy and safety of oral dexamethasone compared to placebo for the prevention of migraine recurrence in children and adolescents visiting the pediatric emergency department (ED) with migraine.

Methods:

This study was a two-arm, parallel-group, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind pilot trial of patients presenting to the pediatric ED with migraine. Eligible participants were randomized at 1:1 ratio to receive either oral dexamethasone 0.6 mg/kg (maximum 15 mg) or matched placebo as a single dose. Efficacy and safety outcomes were assessed at discharge, 48 h and 7 days after discharge. The primary outcome of the trial was feasibility and was assessed through participant recruitment rate, follow-up completion rates, participant satisfaction ratings and comparison of enrolled versus non-enrolled participants. Efficacy and safety outcomes were not analyzed given that this was a pilot study.

Results:

Twelve participants were enrolled over the 6-month recruitment period. This represents 60% of the planned sample size and a 10.5% recruitment rate. No other feasibility issues were identified and patients expressed high satisfaction rates with their treatment: 90.9% were satisfied with their treatment at discharge and at 48-h follow-up and 81.8% were satisfied with their treatment at 7-day follow-up (81.8%). There were no significant differences observed when comparing enrolled participants to those not enrolled.

Conclusion:

This pilot randomized controlled trial is the first to assess dexamethasone in the pediatric ED for the prevention of migraine recurrence. The protocol is feasible but recruitment in a single center was lower than expected. Future pediatric ED migraine studies may use innovative or pragmatic trial designs to maximize feasibility from a recruitment standpoint.