Treatment of headache.

Headache is the most common complaint encountered in clinical practice. Approximately 45 million people in the United States experience chronic headaches. The management of migraine headache involves both pharmacologic and nondrug therapy. Drug therapy for migraine involves the use of abortive and prophylactic agents. Abortive agents, such as ergotamine tartrate and ketoprofen, may be used to relieve the acute attack. Prophylactic therapy is focused on reducing the frequency and severity of the attacks. beta-Adrenergic blocking agents, such as propranolol, remain the primary agents for many migraine patients, although other drugs, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including ketoprofen, or calcium-channel blocking agents, such as verapamil, may be beneficial for many patients. For cluster headache and its variants, methysergide and corticosteroids are usually the drugs of choice. Patients with chronic cluster headache may achieve good results from long-term treatment with other therapies, including lithium carbonate, verapamil, and ketoprofen.