Metoclopramide for Post Traumatic Headache

Summary

Nearly 1.5 million patients present to US emergency departments annually following head trauma. Headache is a frequent symptom of victims of head trauma. The purpose of this study is to see if an intravenous medication called metoclopramide can improve the symptoms of patients with acute post-traumatic headache.

Timeline

Start

2017-08-01

Primary completion

2020-04-01

Completion

2020-04-01

Outcome

Met primary endpoint

paper Patients receiving placebo reported mean improvement of 3.8 (SD 2.6), while those receiving M + D improved by 5.2 (SD 2.3), for a difference favoring metoclopramide of 1.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.7-2.2, p < 0.01). PMID 33762421 ↗

paper CONCLUSION: M + D was more efficacious than placebo with regard to relief of posttraumatic headache in the ED. PMID 33762421 ↗

Publications

• Friedman BW, Irizarry E, Cain D, Caradonna A, Minen MT, Solorzano C, Zias E, Zybert D, McGregor M, Bijur PE, Gallagher EJ. Randomized Study of Metoclopramide Plus Diphenhydramine for Acute Posttraumatic Headache. Neurology. 2021 May 4;96(18):e2323-e2331. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000011822. Epub 2021 Mar 24.

Drugs

Evaluation	Drug	Modality	Dose	Route
Subject	Metoclopramide	Small molecule	20 mg	Intravenous
Background	Diphenhydramine	Small molecule	25 mg	Intravenous

Indications