Clinical trial NCT05983354: Oral Medications for the Management of Acute Migraine Headache in the Emergency Department
Official title: Oral v. Parenteral Medications for the Emergency Management of Acute Migraine: a Pilot Randomized Control Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Acute Migraine Headache
Keywords: emergency department
migraine
metoclopramide
Lead sponsor: Health Sciences North Research Institute
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2023-08-09
Enrollment: 55
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 64
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The goal of this pilot randomized control trial is to assess the feasibility of our patient recruitment and data collection strategy ahead of a full scale RCT investigating the efficacy of oral v. parenteral medications in the management of acute migraine headaches in the emergency department. Patients will be randomly assigned to receive either (A) standard medical therapy for the treatment of acute migraine headache (metoclopramide and ketorolac IV) and oral placebo or (B) oral metoclopramide and ibuprofen with normal saline IV. Primary outcome measures are recruitment rate and improvement in pain score at 60 minutes from medication administration.

Detailed description: Objectives

The planned study is a pilot study designed to assess the feasibility of our recruitment and data collection strategy. The primary feasibility outcome will be recruitment rate, which is defined as the proportion of eligible patients approached who are successfully recruited over the proposed 6-month pilot study period. Our secondary feasibility outcomes are (a) proportion of eligible patients approached and (b) rate of attrition during the study period.

Our preliminary primary outcome will be improvement in pain from baseline to 60 minutes after medication administration using the visual analogue scale (Bijur et al. 2008). Preliminary secondary outcomes will include headache relief and freedom from headache at 2 h, the need for rescue medication, ED length of stay and return to ED within 24h of discharge. The frequency of adverse effects, including gastrointestinal upset, patient-reported restlessness or dystonic reaction and fatigue, will be assessed.

Design

In this parallel, noninferiority, double-blind randomised control pilot study, eligible patients presenting to the emergency department with a chief complaint of headache will be randomly assigned with an allocation ratio of 1:1 to receive one of 2 treatments: intravenous ketorolac (10 mg) and metoclopramide (10 mg) v. oral ibuprofen (400 mg) and metoclopramide (10 mg). Dosing was selected to reflect the lowest effective doses recommended for emergency department management of migraine headaches (Friedman et al. 2011, Motov et al. 2017). The study will last 6 months at which time it will stop.

Study population

Patients between the ages of 18 and 64 presenting to the ED with a chief complaint of headache will be eligible to participate in the study. Exclusion criteria include vomiting or inability to tolerate oral medications at the time of medication administration, focal neurologic symptoms, head trauma within 14 days, history of renal disease, contraindication to NSAIDs including pregnancy or concurrent use of blood thinners, hypersensitivity reaction to any of the study medications, or \>15 headache days per month.

Study procedures

Treatment will be assigned using a random number generator. Contents of treatment, which will be identical in appearance, will be known only to the research pharmacist and this information will be stored remotely from the ED. Administering nurses and treating physicians will be blind to the treatment group, as will patients and research assistants collecting outcome data.

Data collection

Data will be collected using patient interviews immediately prior to medication administration and repeated at 1 and 2 hours after medication administration. A chart review will then be conducted to check for return visits within 24 h of ED discharge.

Enrolment:

Based on sample size calculations, 55 patients will be enrolled.

Statistical procedures:

Primary and secondary feasibility outcomes will be reported as the proportion of patients approached who were recruited, proportion of eligible patients approached and the proportion who withdrew consent during the study period +/- 95% CI.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

- Presentation to emergency department with headache

Exclusion Criteria:

* Vomiting or unable to tolerate PO at tie of med admin
* Focal neurologic symptoms
* Head trauma within 14d
* Pregnancy
* Concurrent use of blood thinners
* Hypersensitivity reaction to any of the study medications
* \>14 HA days per month

Primary outcomes:
measure: Recruitment rate
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Pain relief
timeFrame: 60 minutes
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Proportion of eligible patients approached
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Rate of attrition during the study period
timeFrame: 24 hours
measure: Pain relief at 2 hours
timeFrame: 120 minutes
measure: Freedom from headache
timeFrame: 60 minutes
measure: Need for rescue medication
timeFrame: 24 h
measure: Emergency department length of stay
timeFrame: 24 hours
measure: Return to emergency department
timeFrame: 24 hours
measure: Adverse reactions
timeFrame: 24 hours
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: Health Sciences North Research Institute
name: Robert Ohle, MBBCh
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Azzopardi TD, Brooks NA. Oral metoclopramide as an adjunct to analgesics for the outpatient treatment of acute migraine. Ann Pharmacother. 2008 Mar;42(3):397-402. doi: 10.1345/aph.1K481. Epub 2008 Feb 19.
citation: Bijur PE, Silver W, Gallagher EJ. Reliability of the visual analog scale for measurement of acute pain. Acad Emerg Med. 2001 Dec;8(12):1153-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2001.tb01132.x.
citation: Burch RC, Loder S, Loder E, Smitherman TA. The prevalence and burden of migraine and severe headache in the United States: updated statistics from government health surveillance studies. Headache. 2015 Jan;55(1):21-34. doi: 10.1111/head.12482.
citation: Burch R, Rizzoli P, Loder E. The prevalence and impact of migraine and severe headache in the United States: Updated age, sex, and socioeconomic-specific estimates from government health surveys. Headache. 2021 Jan;61(1):60-68. doi: 10.1111/head.14024. Epub 2020 Dec 21.
citation: Friedman BW, Mulvey L, Esses D, Solorzano C, Paternoster J, Lipton RB, Gallagher EJ. Metoclopramide for acute migraine: a dose-finding randomized clinical trial. Ann Emerg Med. 2011 May;57(5):475-82.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2010.11.023. Epub 2011 Jan 12.
citation: Motov S, Yasavolian M, Likourezos A, Pushkar I, Hossain R, Drapkin J, Cohen V, Filk N, Smith A, Huang F, Rockoff B, Homel P, Fromm C. Comparison of Intravenous Ketorolac at Three Single-Dose Regimens for Treating Acute Pain in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Ann Emerg Med. 2017 Aug;70(2):177-184. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.10.014. Epub 2016 Dec 16.
citation: Yeh WZ, Blizzard L, Taylor BV. What is the actual prevalence of migraine? Brain Behav. 2018 Jun;8(6):e00950. doi: 10.1002/brb3.950. Epub 2018 May 2.