Efficacy of intravenous diphenhydramine versus intravenous DHE-45 in the treatment of severe migraine headache.

This study was conducted to compare the efficacy of intravenous diphenhydramine with dihydroergotamine mesylate (DHE-45; Novartis International AG, Switzerland) in the treatment of severe, refractory, migraine headache. A retrospective review was conducted to include eighty randomly chosen patients who were admitted to the Michigan Head Pain & Neurological Institute's inpatient program at Chelsea Community Hospital. Patients had received nine doses of diphenhydramine or nine doses of DHE-45 during a 3-day period. Patients receiving DHE-45 also received metoclopramide (Reglan; AH Robins Company, Inc., Richmond, VA) as prophylaxis for nausea. Demographics, headache diagnosis, psychiatric discharge diagnoses, abortive medications, and adverse events were recorded and assessed.