From a recent study, it was found that dihydroergotamine (DHE) treatment for refractory migraine in children is effective. As per the findings, data support repetitive IV DHE as an unsuccessful therapy for children suffering from status migrainosus or chronic migraine. 

A retrospective study was aimed to find the efficiency of IV DHE therapy for refractory migraine in the pediatric patients.

A chart analysis to evaluate the efficiency of IV DHE therapy protocol in the cases of refractory migraine in the pediatric population was done. According to cohort, depending on a chart review consisting of 159 patients (mean age 15 ± 2 years) who were given IV DHE for nine years at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital were identified. The median total dose of DHE was about 4.0 mg. Overall, 38% (60/159) patients who completed the course of DHE received 8 or 9 total doses. Patients were classified as having completed the DHE protocol or not.

At discharge, 60% (96/159) of patients got free from headache, but no statistically important variation was seen in headache among status migrainosus, chronic migraine and other headache categories. There was no variation in pain relief results at the record in the dihydroergotamine protocol complete and incomplete groups.

Table: Headache diagnosis 

The intravenous administration of dihydroergotamine for refractory migraine in children was found beneficial.