Post traumatic headache (PTH) in a cohort of UK compensation claimants

AimTo explore post traumatic headache characteristics and risk factors in compensation claimants by observational retrospective cohort analysis.Case resultsMedicolegal reports on 116 consecutive compensation claimants aged 41.9 ± 15.0 years were reviewed 21 ± 14 months after injury. Eighty eight had suffered head and neck injuries, 21 reported only neck injury and seven had “other injuries”. Ninety four percent of the head injuries were “mild”. The incidence of post traumatic headache following neck injury did not differ from that following head and neck injury, and none of the “other injuries” cases developed post traumatic headache. We anticipated that all head and neck injury claimants would seek compensation for post traumatic headache, but 25% denied developing headache. Post traumatic headache was very strongly correlated with a past history of primary headache (p < 0.0001) but no other risk factors were identified. Post traumatic headache semiology was consistent with “migraine” or “probable migrai...