Pediatric Patients With Recurrent Headache and Abnormal Electroencephalogram / 日本農村医学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

Occasionally, standard painkillers or triptans tend to be ineffective for treating pediatric patients with recurrent headache, leading to unavoidable absence and early departure from school, or even resulting in them becoming targets of bullying. Thirty children (19 male, 11 female; mean age 10.7 years, range 4–15 years) examined at my clinic in 2018, who presented with a chief complaint of intractable headache and exhibited abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG), were retrospectively studied. Their diagnosis, treatment, and treatment efficacy were analyzed. Although all participants showed abnormal brain waves on EEG, they did not demonstrate any other symptoms beside headache. Antiepileptic drug therapy proved efficacious in 24 of the 30 cases (80%). In all successfully treated cases, a definitive improvement in headaches was confirmed within 1–2 weeks.