Intravenous aspirin (lysine acetylsalicylate) in the inpatient management of headache.

BACKGROUND

IV lysine acetylsalicylate (aspirin) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of acute migraine attacks, but little is known about its effectiveness and safety in patients hospitalized for management of severe headache, typically arising from abrupt withdrawal of other acute attack medications.

METHODS

We present an audit of our use of IV aspirin in 168 patients in a tertiary referral setting.

RESULTS

The findings demonstrate subjective approval of this medication by the patients and objective improvements in pain scores, a decrease of ≥3 points on a 10-point visual analog pain scale being seen on >25% occasions on which the medication was administered. Further, side effect rates were low (5.9%), with no serious adverse events.

CONCLUSIONS

IV aspirin is safe, effective, and useful in the inpatient management of headache.