Chronic tension-type headache: amitriptyline reduces clinical headache-duration and experimental pain sensitivity but...

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the effect of 75 mg of a slow-release formulation of amitriptyline on the clinical severity of chronic tension-type headache and on headache-associated neurophysiological parameters (EMG activity, exteroceptive suppression of temporal muscle activity, contingent negative variation (CNV) and experimental pain sensitivity) was investigated. All of the patients treated had a history of headaches of many years' standing and many of them had failed attempts at treatment. In the amitriptyline group, a significant reduction in daily headache duration was already found in the 3rd week of treatment, while in the placebo group no significant changes in headache duration were to be seen. In week 6 the amitriptyline group had a significantly shorter daily duration of headache than did the placebo group. Treatment did not result in any significant effects on EMG recordings of pericranial muscle activity either during relaxation or contraction, on exteroceptive suppression of the temporal muscle and on CNV. The sensitivity to suprathreshold experimental pain, however, was significantly reduced. The data show a statistically relevant reduction of daily headache duration. However, they also show that amitriptyline can only partly alleviate chronic headaches but cannot cure them.