Comparison of Pregabalin and Sodium Valproate in Migraine Prophylaxis: A Randomized Double-Blinded Study

Abstract

Patients suffering from headache, particularly migraine type, are among the most dissatisfied patients. The aim of this study was comparing the efficacy of pregabalin with valproate sodium, in preventing migraine headache. In a randomized, double-blinded study, adult patients eligible for prophylactic treatment (i.e., patients with 4-15 attacks per month in last two months) were recruited. Patients’ demographic data, duration of symptoms, headache frequency (attacks per month) and intensity (based on visual analogue scale) and also drugs used to relief headache were recorded. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups; valproate sodium (200 mg two times daily) and pregabalin (50 mg two times daily). The patients were examined by neurology specialist monthly for three months and the related data were recorded. The Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21, with related statistical tests. Total number of 140 patients with recurrent migraine were entered into the study. Sixty-nine patients were assigned to group A and 71 to group B by the randomizing table. Inter-group analysis of data in two arms of the study showed that two medications were equally effective except that pregabalin was not significantly effective in reducing number of attacks during first month of therapy compared to baseline. This differences were not significant at second and third month of the study. Our study showed that pregabalin, has comparable efficacy with valproate sodium in reducing migraine frequency, intensity, and duration of attacks and could be an alternative for migraine prophylaxis.