The influence of thiethylperazine on the absorption of effervescent aspirin in migraine.

The absorption of effervescent aspirin was studied in three groups of patients during attacks of migraine. The first group received intramuscular thiethylperazine 10 min before effervescent aspirin; the second group received intramuscular metoclopramide 10 min before effervescent aspirin; and the third group received effervescent aspirin alone. Where possible each patient was retested when headache-free but under conditions which were otherwise as similar as possible to those during the acute attack. Intramuscular metoclopramide corrected the impairment of drug absorption that occurred during a migraine attack, whereas thiethylperazine did not. In the group of patients treated with thiethylperazine and aspirin, the impairment of absorption did not correlate with the duration of the symptoms, nor with the severity of the headache and nausea. Patients treated with thiethylperazine and aspirin tended to take longer to recover than those patients treated with metoclopramide and aspirin. However, in the thiethylperazine treated group, the time to recover did not correlate with the salicylate level achieved.