The efficacy and safety of oral sumatriptan as a 100mg conventional tablet was evaluated in the acute treatment of migraine in a single-blind, randomized, placebocontrolled, parallel-group study. Thirty patients were assigned to the sumatriptan
group
and other 30 to placebo group. Each patient was treated a total of three attacks. Patients recorded details of each attack and response to treatment on a diary card. Sumatriptan was signifidantly more effective than placebo in relieving headache
(moderate/severe reduced to mild/none) at 4 hr (67.2 vs 15.4%; P<0.001). Overall therapeutic effect of sumatriptan was excellent (89.6 vs 23% : P<0.001). Compared with placebo, more patients on sumatriptan were pain-free by 2 hr (33.6 vs 0%;
P<0.001)
and 4 hr (25.7 vs 2.0%; P,0.001) lower in the sumatriptan group when compared with the placebo group (2.4 vs 21%). The overall incidence of patients reporting adverse events was 39% in sumatriptan group and 10% in placebo (P=0.005). The most
commonly
reported events in the sumatriptan-treated patients were nausea and/or vomiting, chest discomfort, general weakness, tightness of head; these were however generally mild, transient and tolerable. It is concluded that oral sumatriptan is an
effective,
well-tolerated prompt remedy for acute attacks of miraine.
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