Methylprednisolone plus diazepam i.v. as bridge therapy for medication overuse headache

Abstract

Management of medication overuse headache (MOH) requires abrupt suspension of overused drugs either alone or in association with a detoxification protocol to prevent withdrawal. However, there is no consensus about which suspension strategy is the most effective. Moreover, reliable data about the possible mid-term effect of detoxification are not available. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether a bridge therapy consisting of a 5-day i.v. infusion of methylprednisolone and diazepam determines a significant reduction in headache frequency and drug assumption during the detoxification protocol (day 5) and in the first 3 months in patients with MOH. We conducted a retrospective non-randomized before-and-after study comparing patients with MOH undergoing a bridge therapy protocol (5-day infusion of methylprednisolone, diazepam) with those who refused the treatment and were only recommended to suspend overused painkillers. Both groups started a prophylactic treatment and were followed-up for 3 months. At day 5, 82% of our patients were headache-free; moreover, 48% of the patients did not take any painkiller during the 5-day treatment. Three months after, the intervention group showed a greater reduction of monthly headache days (9.4 vs 3.0) and drugs (19.7 vs 6.5), a greater rate of patients with a ≥ 50% reduction of monthly headaches (p = 0.019) and symptomatic drug consumption (p = 0.000), than the control group. The methylprednisolone and diazepam detoxification protocol reduced headache attacks and drug assumption immediately and in the first 3 months after the intervention, concurring to improve the effect of a new prophylactic therapy.