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Evidence summaries

Naratriptan for Acute Migraine

Naratriptan is effective for acute migraine attack. Level of evidence: "A"

A topic in Clinical Evidence 1 summarizes the results of one systematic review (search date 2000, 5 RCTs, 1077 people) and two subsequent RCTs. Naratriptan increased headache relief compared with placebo (ARI 22.2%, 95% CI 16.9% to 27.5%). The first subsequent RCT compared naratriptan 2.5 mg, sumatriptan 100 mg and placebo. Both increased headache relief at 4 hours (AR 63% with naratriptan vs 80% with sumatriptan vs 31% with placebo). One systematic review (search date 2000, 2 RCTs, 480 people) found that sumatriptan 100 mg increased headache relief compared with naratriptan 2.5 mg (ARI 8%, 95% CI 0% to 16%). A subsequent RCT did not find any difference in headache recurrence between sumatriptan 100 mg and naratriptan 2.5 mg.

    References

    • Morillo L. What are the effects of drug treatment for acute migraine?. Migraine headache. Clinical Evidence 2005;13:1624-1641.

Primary/Secondary Keywords