Acute Treatment Comparison of Primary Headache Patients Admitted to Emergency Department: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Study

Headaches are frequent and recurrent causes of emergency department visits. This study aims to compare the efficacy of analgesic and non-analgesic treatment protocols in the acute treatment of adult primary headache patients admitted to the emergency department. This study was a non-inferiority trial of oxygen therapy in primary headache, conducted as prospective cross-sectional research in the emergency department of a tertiary university hospital. The pain scales of the patients on admission and at the end of treatment were measured twice by Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale. The treatment effectiveness between the groups was compared statistically. A total of 215 patients were included in the study. The numbers of patients in groups were 68 patients (31.6%) in the group of intravenous metoclopramide HCl, 67 patients (31.2%) with nasal oxygen, and 80 patients (37.2%) with intravenous paracetamol treatment groups. Paracetamol, metoclopramide, and oxygen therapy were found similarly effective in primary headache treatments. Oxygen therapy should be recommended as the first-line treatment option, because, it has no known side effects, can be repeated if necessary and as effective as the paracetamol and metoclopramide.