Icepick-like pain

Abstract

The incidence and clinical characteristics of sharp, jabbing pain about the head were studied in 100 migraineurs and 100 control subjects. Among the controls, 3% had experienced paroxysmal sharp cranial pain, whereas 42% of the migraineurs had made this observation (p less than 0.001) and half of them experienced it more often than monthly. The pain was usually (45%) unifocal at the temple or orbit, was described as icepick-like by 52% of the patients, and was often (69%) experienced concurrently with headache. Icepick-like pain appears to be a manifestation of migraine and should be distinguished from trigeminal neuralgia.