Prochlorperazine Versus Acetaminophen, Aspirin, and Caffeine for the Treatment of Acute Migraine

Patients with severe headaches often come to the emergency department seeking relief from their symptoms. There is some dating suggesting that over the counter treatment options are not inferior to treatment options offered in emergency departments. Patients presenting to the Einstein Emergency Department with IHS criteria for migraine headache will be approached by research associate and offered to participate in a randomized double blind study comparing excedrin migraine to compazine. Patients will be randomized by the hospital pharmacy. The pharmacy will distribute one of two packets, one containing prochlorperazine 10mg and 2 placebo tablets, the other containing 2 generic AAC tablets without scoring (acetaminophen 250mg, aspirin 250mg and caffeine 65mg in each tablet) and a placebo syringe. Patients will be monitored for improvement of pain, change in vital signs, and adverse events for two hours after receiving drugs. At 24 hours, the patients will be called back to access if they experienced any side effects from the time of discharge, and if they would take this medicine again if they experienced another migraine.