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Review
. 2022 Feb;22(2):105-111.
doi: 10.1007/s11910-022-01175-w. Epub 2022 Feb 9.

Post-traumatic Headache: Pharmacologic Management and Targeting CGRP Signaling

Håkan Ashina  1   2 , David W Dodick  3
Affiliations
Review

Post-traumatic Headache: Pharmacologic Management and Targeting CGRP Signaling

Håkan Ashina et al. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Post-traumatic headache is a common sequela of injury to the head and/or neck. Here, we review the current approach to pharmacologic management of post-traumatic headache and explore the therapeutic promise of targeting calcitonin gene-related peptide signaling to address unmet treatment needs.

Recent findings: The scarcity of data from controlled trials has left clinicians to rely on mainly expert opinion for the pharmacologic management of post-traumatic headache. The current view is that a phenotype-guided approach should be used, in which patients are treated according to the primary headache phenotype that their clinical features resemble the most (e.g. migraine, tension-type headache). Moreover, incremental advances are being made in the field that aim to identify possible cellular and molecular drivers of headache persistence. Calcitonin gene-related peptide has emerged as a key drug target which, in turn, has prompted novel insights on the potential importance of early initiation of pharmacologic treatment following the onset of post-traumatic headache. This, in turn, might prevent subsequent persistence and chronification of headache.

Keywords: Concussion; Secondary headache disorders; Traumatic brain injury; Treatment.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance
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