Treatment of status migrainosus by general anesthesia: a case report / Tratamento do estado de mal-enxaquecoso pela anestesia geral: relato de caso

ABSTRACTBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The status migrainosus is a complication of migraine characterized by severe headache for more than 72 h that did not respond to treatment, with risk of stroke and suicide. Researches on treatment are directed to drugs that stimulate GABA receptors; propofol and isoflurane act on sub-GABAa receptors and theoretically could be interesting. The first has been the subject of research in severe migraine. Opioids are employed in pain, and its use in chronic headache is debatable, but these agents are employed in acute cases. The goal is to present a case of refractory status migrainosus in that we decided to break the pain cycle by general anesthesia.CASE REPORT: Female patient, aged 50 years, with status migrainosus, in the last five days with visits to the emergency department, medicated parenterally with various agents without result. Without comorbidities, dehydrated, described her pain as "well over 10" in Visual Numeric Scale (VNS). After consulting the literature, and given the apparent severity of the condition, we opted for a general anesthesia: induction with fentanyl, propofol, and vecuronium and maintenance with isoflurane and propofol for two hours. Following the treatment, in the postanesthetic recuperation (PAR), the patient related her pain as VNS 3, and was released after five hours with VNS 2. Subsequently, her preventive treatment was resumed.CONCLUSION: Status migrainosus is a rare disabling complication and anesthetics have been the subject of research in its treatment; the option for general anesthesia with agents that stimulate GABA receptors, propofol and isoflurane, in association with fentanyl, proved effective and should encourage new research.

RESUMOJUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: O estado de mal-enxaquecoso é complicação da migrânea caracterizada por cefaleia severa por mais de 72 horas não responsiva à terapêutica com risco de AVC e suicídio. Pesquisas no tratamento se direcionam às drogas que estimulam receptores GABA; propofol e isoflurano atuam nos sub-receptores GABAa e teoricamente poderiam ser interessantes. O primeiro já foi objeto de pesquisas na migrânea severa. Opioides são empregados em dor, seu uso crônico nas cefaleias é discutível, mas são empregados nos casos agudos. O objetivo é apresentar caso de estado de mal-enxaquecoso refratário em que se optou para quebrar o ciclo álgico por uma anestesia geral.RELATO DE CASO: Paciente do sexo feminino com 50 anos em estado de mal-enxaquecoso havia cinco dias com passagens anteriores por serviço de urgências, medicada por via parenteral com vários agentes sem resultado. Sem comorbidades, desidratada, descrevia sua dor como "muito superior a 10" na ENV. Após consulta à literatura, face à gravidade aparente do quadro, optou-se pela feitura de uma anestesia geral; a indução foi com fentanil, propofol, vecurônio e manutenção com isoflurano e propofol por duas horas. No fim, na RPA, no primeiro contato classificou sua dor com ENV 3, teve alta após cinco horas com ENV 2. Ulteriormente retomou seu tratamento preventivo.CONCLUSÃO: O mal-enxaquecoso é uma complicação rara incapacitante e anestésicos têm sido objeto de pesquisas no tratamento; a opção por uma anestesia geral com agentes que estimulam os receptores GABA, propofol e isoflurano, aliados ao fentanil, mostrou-se eficaz e deve incentivar pesquisas.

[Treatment of status migrainosus by general anesthesia: a case report]. / Tratamento do estado de mal-enxaquecoso pela anestesia geral: relato de caso.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The status migrainosus is a complication of migraine characterizedby severe headache for more than 72 h that did not respond to treatment, with risk of strokeand suicide. Researches on treatment are directed to drugs that stimulate GABA receptors; propofol and isoflurane act on sub-GABAa receptors and theoretically could be interesting. The first has been the subject of research in severe migraine. Opioids are employed in pain, and its use in chronic headache is debatable, but these agents are employed in acute cases. The goalis to present a case of refractory status migrainosus in that we decided to break the pain cycle by general anesthesia. CASE REPORT: Female patient, aged 50 years, with status migrainosus, in the last five days withvisits to the emergency department, medicated parenterally with various agents without result. Without comorbidities, dehydrated, described her pain as "well over 10" in Visual NumericScale (VNS). After consulting the literature, and given the apparent severity of the condition, we opted for a general anesthesia: induction with fentanyl, propofol, and vecuroniumand maintenance with isoflurane and propofol for two hours. Following the treatment, in the postanesthetic recuperation (PAR), the patient related her pain as VNS 3, and was released after five hours with VNS 2. Subsequently, her preventive treatment was resumed. CONCLUSION: Status migrainosus is a rare disabling complication and anesthetics have been the subject of research in its treatment; the option for general anesthesia with agents that stimulate GABA receptors, propofol and isoflurane, in association with fentanyl, proved effective and should encourage new research.

Treatment of status migrainosus by general anesthesia: a case report.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The status migrainosus is a complication of migraine characterized by severe headache for more than 72h that did not respond to treatment, with risk of stroke and suicide. Researches on treatment are directed to drugs that stimulate GABA receptors; propofol and isoflurane act on sub-GABAa receptors and theoretically could be interesting. The first has been the subject of research in severe migraine. Opioids are employed in pain, and its use in chronic headache is debatable, but these agents are employed in acute cases. The goal is to present a case of refractory status migrainosus in that we decided to break the pain cycle by general anesthesia. CASE REPORT: Female patient, aged 50 years, with status migrainosus, in the last five days with visits to the emergency department, medicated parenterally with various agents without result. Without comorbidities, dehydrated, described her pain as "well over 10" in Visual Numeric Scale (VNS). After consulting the literature, and given the apparent severity of the condition, we opted for a general anesthesia: induction with fentanyl, propofol, and vecuronium and maintenance with isoflurane and propofol for two hours. Following the treatment, in the postanesthetic recuperation (PAR), the patient related her pain as VNS 3, and was released after five hours with VNS 2. Subsequently, her preventive treatment was resumed. CONCLUSION: Status migrainosus is a rare disabling complication and anesthetics have been the subject of research in its treatment; the option for general anesthesia with agents that stimulate GABA receptors, propofol and isoflurane, in association with fentanyl, proved effective and should encourage new research.

Migraña: una visión global hacia el enfoque terapéutico en el servicio de urgencias / Migraine: an overview to the therapeutic approach in the emergency room

El manejo agudo de la migraña es un proceso desafiante en el servicio de Urgencias. Su tratamiento debe estar basado en la severidad de los síntomas que definen una aproximación farmacológica estratificada. En casos moderados a severos, los agentes de elección son los triptanes, agentes antimigrañosos específicos que proveen rápida mejoría del dolor y disminución de la discapacidad. Dicho tratamiento debe iniciarse en las etapas iniciales del dolor y antes de la instauración del fenómeno de alodinia cutánea para garantizar una respuesta óptima para dicho tratamiento.

Acute management of migraine is a challenging process in the emergency medical service. Its treatment should be based on symptom severity in order to define a stratified approach. In cases with moderate to severe symptoms the agents of choice are the triptans, specific antimigraine agents that provide swift relief of pain and improvement in the overall discapacity. Such treatment should be initiated in the early stages of pain and before the instauration of the cutaneous allodinia phenomenon in order to secure an optimal response to such treatment.