Abstract: For this update we identified one new study (43 participants), but it did not contribute any data for analysis. The review included 13 studies using sumatriptan 85 mg or 50 mg plus naproxen 500 mg to treat attacks of mild, moderate, or severe pain intensity. Twelve studies contributed data for analyses: 3663 participants received combination treatment, 3682 placebo, 964 sumatriptan, and 982 naproxen. We judged only one small study to be at high risk of bias for any of the criteria evaluated; it did not contribute to any analyses. Overall, the combination was better than placebo for the primary outcomes of pain-free and headache relief at two hours. The NNT for pain-free at two hours was 3.1 (95% confidence interval 2.9 to 3.5) when the baseline pain was mild (50% response with sumatriptan plus naproxen compared with 18% with placebo), and 4.9 (4.3 to 5.7) when baseline pain was moderate or severe (28% with sumatriptan plus naproxen compared with 8% with placebo) (high quality evidence). Using 50 mg of sumatriptan, rather than 85 mg, in the combination did not significantly change the result. Treating early, when pain was still mild, was significantly better than treating once pain was moderate or severe for pain-free responses at two hours and during the 24 hours post dose. Adverse events were mostly mild or moderate in severity and rarely led to withdrawal; they were more common with the combination than with placebo (moderate quality evidence). Where the data allowed direct comparison, combination treatment was superior to either monotherapy, but adverse events were less frequent with naproxen than with sumatriptan (moderate quality evidence). The conclusions of this review were not changed. Combination treatment was effective in the acute treatment of migraine headaches. The effect was greater than for the same dose of either sumatriptan or naproxen alone, but additional benefits over sumatriptan alone were not large. More participants achieved good relief when medication was taken early in the attack, when pain was still mild. Adverse events were more common with the combination and sumatriptan alone than with placebo or naproxen alone.

Plain-language summary: On 28 October 2015, we looked for clinical trials using sumatriptan plus naproxen to treat migraine headache in adults. People were given either a combination of sumatriptan and naproxen, sumatriptan only, naproxen only, or a placebo (dummy) treatment. They did not know which treatment they were taking, and nor did the health professionals looking after them. We found 13 studies, of which 12 (with about 9300 people) provided information on how well the combination treatment worked. The combination of sumatriptan plus naproxen was better than placebo for relieving acute migraine attacks in adults. When the starting headache intensity was mild, 5 in 10 (50%) of people treated with the combination were pain-free at two hours compared with about 2 in 10 (18%) with placebo. Almost 6 in 10 (58%) people with moderate or severe pain who were treated with the combination had pain reduced to mild or none at two hours, compared with 3 in 10 (27%) with placebo. The combination was also better than the same dose of either drug given alone in these people. Results were 5 in 10 (52%) people with sumatriptan alone or about 4 in 10 (44%) with naproxen alone. The combination was better than placebo or either drug alone for relief of other migraine symptoms (nausea, sensitivity to light or sound) and loss of ability to function normally. Adverse events of dizziness, tingling or burning of the skin, sleepiness (somnolence), nausea, indigestion (dyspepsia), dry mouth, and chest discomfort were more common with sumatriptan (alone or in combination) than with placebo or naproxen. They were generally of mild to moderate severity and rarely led to withdrawal from the studies. The studies were carried out to high standards and were generally large enough to give reliable results, so that most of the results for efficacy were of high quality. Results for adverse events were downgraded to moderate quality because there were fewer events.