LONG-TERM EFFECT OF CLONIDINE IN MIGRAINE ASSESSED

Clonidine may have a beneficial effect in migraine prophylaxis initially, but whether this effect is maintained with long-term therapy is subject to speculation. To assess the long-term efficacy of clonidine, it was compared with placebo in patients who appeared to have obtained positive results with past clonidine therapy (duration, 4-32 months). In this double-blind, cross-over study, clonidine (7 5-150J.tg) and placebo were administered to 29 migraine patients for 7-week periods. Overall, clonidine was significantly superior to placebo. But in 9 of the patients, various other factors could have influenced the frequency and severity of headache attacks. If these 9 are excluded, no statistically significant difference could be found between clonidine and placebo.

Thus, the long-term effect of clonidine appears to be less favourable than that achieved with short-term therapy. The initial benefits may be due to clonidine's sedative effect, which is experienced by many patients during the first 2-3 weeks of therapy. The st1.1dy results could also be interpreted as suggesting that the improvement obtained with clonidine persists for some time after discontinuation of the drug and was still present during the placebo phase of the study.

Stensrud, P. and Sjaastad, 0.: Acta Neurologica Scandinavica 53: 233 (Mar 1976)

INPHARMA 15th May, 1976 p11