Back to List

Title:

Author:
Date:
Source:

Treatment of Chronic Daily Posttraumatic
Headache With Divalproex Sodium
Russell C. Packard, MD
Posted August 2003
Headache 2003;40:736-739

Objective: Divalproex sodium has been found to be useful for the treatment of migraine and chronic daily headache. No studies have been done to evaluate effectiveness in posttraumatic headache.

Method: A retrospective review was done of 100 patients treated with divalproex for chronic daily posttraumatic headache of 2 months or longer.

Results: Sixty percent of patients with chronic posttraumatic headache had mild to moderate improvement in their headaches after at least 1 month of divalproex sodium. Forty percent either showed no response (26%) or discontinued treatment because of side effects (14%). Fifty-eight percent of patients showing improvement had a change in headache pattern from daily to episodic.

Conclusions: Divalproex sodium appears to be safe and effective for treatment of patients with persistent, chronic daily posttraumatic headaches.