Early intervention with almotriptan improves sustained pain-free response in acute migraine

To determine whether treatment of migraine with almotriptan, when pain intensity is mild, improves 1- and 2-hour pain-free and sustained pain-free rates compared with treatment when pain intensity is moderate or severe.

This was a post hoc analysis derived from an open-label, multicenter, long-term study of the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of almotriptan 12.5 mg. Patients who met International Headache Society criteria for migraine with or without aura were eligible. Patients were instructed to take a single dose of almotriptan 12.5 mg at the onset of a migraine attack. Rescue medication could be taken if migraine pain had not disappeared at 2 hours. A second dose of almotriptan 12.5 mg could be taken if head pain recurred within 24 hours of the initial dose. Patients reported the intensity of pain at baseline and at 1 and 2 hours postmedication using a 4-point scale: no pain, mild, moderate, or severe pain. They also reported recurrence of pain (return of moderate or severe pain within 2 to 24 hours of taking the study medication) and use of rescue medication. Rescue medication consisted of supplemental analgesics taken for pain relief at 2 to 24 hours postdose. Ergotamines and other 5-HT1B/1D agonists were excluded as rescue medications. Based on these patient-reported end points, sustained pain-free rates, defined as pain-free at 2 hours with no recurrence from 2 to 24 hours and no use of rescue medication, were calculated.

A higher proportion of migraine attacks of mild intensity were pain-free at 1 hour (35.3%) compared with attacks of moderate or severe intensity (7.5%) (P <.001). Two-hour pain-free rates also were significantly higher with mild intensity pain (76.9%) compared to moderate or severe intensity (43.9%) (P <.001). In addition, recurrence rates and use of rescue medication were reduced when attacks were treated during mild pain. Recurrence was 12.9% for mild pain versus 25.0% for moderate or severe pain (P <.001), and use of rescue medication was 9.4% for mild pain versus 17.2% for moderate or severe pain (P <.001). Sustained pain-free rates were nearly twice as high when attacks were treated during mild intensity pain (66.6%) compared with attacks treated during moderate or severe pain (36.6%) (P <.001).

Treatment with almotriptan 12.5 mg during migraine attacks of mild pain intensity improves 1- and 2-hour pain-free and sustained pain-free responses.