Clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of acute primary headaches at an emergency center: why are we still neglecting the evidence?

Tension-type headache in the Emergency Department Diagnosis and misdiagnosis: The TEDDi study

Headache is a common reason to visit the emergency department (ED). Tension-type headache (TTH) is the commonest headache. The diagnosis of TTH implies a mild condition, with no need for special tests. We evaluated the use of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) criteria for TTH in the ED. We performed a cross-sectional study including all ED patients with a definite TTH diagnosis in their discharge report for 2.5 years. We evaluated whether the ICHD criteria for TTH were referenced and met. We analysed discrepancies concerning anamnesis or prior history and reclassified patients. A total of 211 out of 2132 patients fulfilled the criteria (9.9%). Only five patients fulfilled TTH criteria. Criteria A-D were referenced in 60-84% of patients and met in 16-74% of these patients. Anamnesis was discrepant in 87.5% as was prior history in 20.8%. After re-reclassification, 21 patients fulfilled the criteria for TTH (five) or probable TTH (16). In 106 patients, another headache was diagnosed, with migraine in 40 (18.9%), secondary headache in 64 (30.3%), and a life-threatening disorder in 13 (6.1%). In our sample, TTH was overdiagnosed. Only a minority of patients fulfilled the ICHD criteria. Inconsistencies in prior medical history or anamnesis were frequent.

Prevalence and management of headache in a selected area of Southern Santa Catarina

Headache is a worldwide health problem which affects quality of life.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the prevalence and management of headache and examine its impact.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study with 240 participants was performed to collect data related to (a) headache occurrence, (b) its impact through the "Migraine Disability Assessment Test" (Midas), and (c) headache management.

RESULTS

Last year prevalence (2008) was 64.6%. There was a low Midas score in 80.6% of cases. With regard to headache management, 86.4% of respondents said that they use medicines, mainly analgesics (73.9%). Prescribed medicines were used in 31.0% of cases, although 72.4% of those were old prescriptions. Headache was associated with gender (p=0.0002), occupation (p=0.0109) and mean age (p=0.0083), while the Midas score was associated with pain intensity (p=0.0069) and the use of drugs only during headache crisis (p=0.0464).

CONCLUSION

There was a high prevalence of headaches and a low level of disability among the population studied, being the management based on self-medication.

Headache patients in the emergency department of a Greek tertiary care hospital

The aim of this study was to record the demographic and epidemiological data on adult patients with headache who attend the emergency department (ED) and the diagnoses that made by the neurologists in the ED of a tertiary care hospital in metropolitan Thessaloniki (Greece). In an open prospective study, demographic and epidemiological data were collected on all patients who reported headache (as chief complaint or not) and presented to the ED of Papageorgiou Hospital between August 2007 and July 2008. Headache patients accounted for 1.3% of all ED patients and for 15.5% of patients primarily referred to the ED neurologist. Tension type headache was the most frequent diagnosis, followed by secondary headaches and migraine. The large number of patients without final ED diagnosis and ward admission for further evaluation sheds a light on the immense workload of Greek ED physicians. Furthermore, we found evidence for the misuse of Emergency Medical Services by chronic headache patients. These findings indicate shortcomings in the pre-hospital (primary care) management of headache patients in the Greek National Health System to an extent unreported so far.