Improvement of headache symptoms and reduction in headache medication usage in patients treated with botulinum toxin type A

Summary

The charts of 132 consecutive patients receiving botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A; BOTOX®) for headache prevention were reviewed retrospectively. During a follow-up visit, patients reported their overall improvement in headache symptoms. Headache medication utilisation and costs for the 6 months before and during treatment were compared using the Average Wholesale Price. The mean BoNT-A dose used was 101.9 units and 131/132 patients (99%) reported some improvement in headache symptoms. Patients reported an average of 77% improvement in their

BOTOX is a registered trademark of Allergan Inc, Irvine, CA, USA

headache symptoms from baseline. BoNT-A treatment resulted in a 47.2% reduction in the use of headache medications. The average monthly cost of all oral headache medications declined from $242.7 to $89.2, a significant reduction of 63.3% (p < 0.001). A total of 122/132 patients (92.4%) reported no side effects. The cost of BoNT-A treatment appears to be offset to a large degree by the reduction in headache medication usage. Interpretation of these results is limited by the retrospective, uncontrolled and open-label design of the analysis.

Key words: :

• preventive headache treatment
• botulinum toxin type A
• headache frequency
• headache intensity
• headache medication utilisation