Intraoral topical nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug application for headache prevention.

Recent evidence suggests an association between migraine and tension-type headache and local inflammation occurring in a maxillary nerve segment. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of topical ketoprofen for the prevention of migraine, tension-type, and posttraumatic headache. Patients with a headache frequency of at least once a week recorded the frequency, severity, duration, and type of headache for 60 days. After 30 days, patients applied the medication daily for the next 30 days to the periapical area of the maxillary molars on the symptomatic side(s). Headache medications and analgesics were permitted, as needed. Headache burden was defined as the average intensity of each headache (0-10 scale) multiplied by its duration, in hours. The average monthly headache burden score for the 20 patients enrolled in this study decreased from 454.8 (30-day baseline) to 86.5 P < 0.001 during the 30-day treatment phase. Analgesic and headache medication intake were significantly reduced from baseline during the treatment phase, and side effects were minimal.