Relationship between severity of migraine and sympathetic skin response in migraine patients during inter ictal period: Case control study

Introduction: Migraine is a neurovascular disorder associated with sympathetic and parasympathetic hypofunction, hyperfunction or sympathetic instability, affecting all age groups, predominantly women between 14-45 years of age group. Our objective was to determine the relationship of severity of migraine and sympathetic skin response and to compare the sympathetic skin responses of migraine patients and those with non specific complaints. Material and Methods:This study was conducted in a tertiary care medical college hospital in Pondicherry. Migraine patients (cases) were selected based on International Headache Society criteria for diagnosis of migraine without aura. Controls were the individuals in the same age group who attended the Neurology outpatient department with nonspecific complaints other than headache. Total sample size was 72 (36 patients with migraine and 36 controls).  Data were collected using a pretested questionnaire. Sympathetic skin response was obtained from both upper and lower limbs, assessed in terms of latency and amplitude among patients with migraine and controls. Results:The latencies of both upper and lower limbs were significantly increased in migraine patients than controls (pmigraine with sympathetic skin response and found that Migraine patients with mild pain had no significant differences in the latency and amplitude; whereas, Migraine patients with moderate and severe pain had significantly increased latencies in both Upper and Lower Limbs (p Conclusion:Patients with moderate and severe migraine had significantly longer latencies than controls which suggests sympathetic hypofunction during headache free period. Keywords:Sympathetic skin response (SSR), Migraine, Case control study, Migraine severity.