Intravenous caffeine citrate vs. magnesium sulfate for reducing pain in patients with acute migraine headache; a prospective quasi-experimental study

BACKGROUND: Current evidence suggests that intravenous magnesium sulfate might be effective for reducing migraine pain. In a recent pilot study, we showed that intravenous caffeine citrate could reduce the severity of migraine headache. The objective of this study is to investigate the efficacy of intravenous caffeine citrate vs. magnesium sulfate for management of acute migraine headache. METHODS: We conducted a prospective quasi-experimental study from January until May 2016 in two educational medical centers of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (Shoahadaye Tajrish Hospital and Imam Hossein Hospital), Tehran, Iran. The study included patients who were referred to the emergency department and met the migraine diagnosis criteria of the International Headache Society. Patients were allocated into 2 groups receiving either 60 mg intravenous caffeine or 2 g intravenous magnesium sulfate. The pain scores, based on the visual analog scale, were recorded on admission, as well as one and two hours after receiving the drug. A Chi-Square test and student t-test were used for analysis of baseline characteristics. A Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon singed rank test were used to analyze differences in the visual analogue scale (VAS) score between and within the groups respectively. RESULTS: In total, 70 patients (35 patients in each group) with the mean age of 33.1 ± 11.3 years were included (64.3% female). For the Caffeine citrate group, the median pain score decreased from 9.0 (2.0) to 5.0 (4.0) after one hour and to 3.0 (4.0) after two hours. For the magnesium sulfate group, the pain score decreased from 8.0 (2.0) to 2.0 (2.0) after one hour and to 0.0 (1.0) after two hours. Both intravenous caffeine citrate and intravenous magnesium sulfate reduced pain scores significantly but the magnesium sulfate group showed more improvement than the Caffeine citrate group after one hour (P < 0.001) and after two hours (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: It is likely that both intravenous caffeine and intravenous magnesium sulfate can reduce the severity of migraine headache. Moreover, intravenous magnesium sulfate at a dose of 2 g might be superior to intravenous caffeine citrate 60 mg for the short term management of migraine headache in emergency departments.

Confusing hypoxia in a 21-year-old intubated multiple trauma patient

A 21-year-old man was brought to the emergency department due to multiple trauma [MT] caused by a motor-car accident [MCA]. On arrival, the patient was intubated by prehospital emergency medical services [EMS] and had a Glasgow coma scale [GCS] score of 6 on 10 [Due to intubation, verbal score was omitted]. Physical examination revealed blood pressure of 150/70 mmHg, oxygen saturation [O2sat] of 60%, and pulse rate of 110/min. Examination of the tracheal tube site revealed incorrect esophageal placement. The patient was intubated again and his O2sat improved and reached approximately 96%. His pupils were reactive and of the same size. The Doll's eye was normal, and plantar reflex was neuter in both sides. Neither expanding hematoma nor emphysema was observed in his neck. Laceration was noted on his left ear, but otorrhagia and tympanic perforation were not found. The lung sounds were normal in both sides. Extended focused abdominal sonography for trauma [e-FAST] examination revealed the absence of free fluid in the abdomen and pericardial space. No deformity of limbs was noted and the distal pulses were palpable. The patient's O2sat decreased during his admission to the emergency department, and further examination indicated obvious de-creased sound in his right lung that could not be reversed by needle thoracostomy. On reviewing his previous chest computed tomography, an obvious questionable pathology was detected in his right side