A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled pilot study revealed that administration of ibuprofen intravenously may be an efficient and safe option for acute migraine treatment. John Curran et al. aimed to assess the safety and effectiveness of intravenous ibuprofen for the management of acute migraine.

A total of 44 patients suffering from episodic migraine were screened for migraine attacks within 2 to 72 hours after headache onset and were administered intravenous ibuprofen (800 mg, n = 23) or saline bolus (250 ml, n = 21). The intensity of the migraine pain and related symptoms were analyzed at time points after the intervention.

Pain relief two hours after the infusion was the major endpoint. The absence of associated symptoms, use of rescue, sustained relief, and pain freedom were the secondary outcomes ascertained. Two hours after the intervention, a higher proportion of participants in the ibuprofen group reported pain alleviation when compared to the placebo group (odds ratio [OR] 3.12), as depicted in Table 1:

Within 2 hours of treatment, a substantial reduction in pain was seen in longitudinal repeated measures analysis (OR 2.47). The absence of related symptoms like osmophobia (OR 3.45), phonophobia (OR 3.12), and photophobia (OR 4.0) was also observed. There were no serious side effects reported.

Intravenous ibuprofen (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs]), was beneficial in relieving pain and eliminating related symptoms within two hours of repeated measure assessment in patients with acute migraine.