| |

Migraine
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
my personal edition > migraine > news

E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague
DGDispatch
Aspirin-Acetaminophen-Caffeine Combo More Effective Than Ibuprofen In Acute Migraine Treatment: Presented at IHS
By Jill Stein
Special to DG News
NEW YORK, NY -- July 2, 2001 -- New findings indicate that a two-tablet dose of the combination of acetaminophen 500 mg, aspirin 500 mg, and caffeine 130 mg (AAC) produces significantly better overall analgesic efficacy and more rapid onset of meaningful pain relief than a two-tablet, 400 mg dose of ibuprofen in patients with acute migraine.
The data were reported at the 10th Congress of the International Headache Society (IHS).
Dr. Jerome Goldstein, with the San Francisco Clinical Research Center in San Francisco, California, presented the results of a trial in which 1,555 patients were randomized to treatment with a single, two- tablet dose of AAC, ibuprofen, or placebo.
Participants in the trial satisfied the IHS diagnostic criteria for migraine with or without aura and had one to six attacks each month during the prior year. The trial did not exclude patients who had disability or vomiting.
The AAC, ibuprofen, and placebo groups were similar with respect to demographic, migraine history, and baseline characteristics of the treated headache.
Results showed that AAC yielded significantly greater total pain relief (TOTPAR) than ibuprofen at two and four hours, and both treatments were significantly better than placebo, Dr. Goldstein said.
The median time to onset of meaningful migraine relief was 20 minutes faster in AAC patients than in ibuprofen patients, and both treatments provided significantly faster pain relief than placebo.
In addition, AAC was also significantly better than ibuprofen and placebo in terms of headache response at two hours. Headache response at two hours was formerly regarded as the standard measure of analgesic efficacy. Ibuprofen was not significantly better than placebo at the same time point.
Significantly fewer AAC patients needed rescue medication than ibuprofen and placebo patients.
Although more AAC patients reported gastrointestinal and nervous system complaints than ibuprofen patients, both active treatments were well tolerated.
The study is the first direct comparison of over-the-counter analgesics for acute migraine.
All contents Copyright (c) 1995-2010 Doctor's Guide Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
|