The treatment of severe migraine often requires a patient office visit or treatment in the ER or urgent care setting. This is due to the minimal efficacy of PO treatments once migraine is severe, and therefore the need for parenteral treatments. IM Ketorolac is one mainstay of parenteral treatment. There is an unmet need for effective at-home treatment regimens for severe migraine. Despite FDA approval of Cambia for acute migraine treatment, insurance is reticent to cover the treatment due to higher cost in comparison to generic diclofenac tablets, despite superior efficacy of Cambia in comparison to generic diclofenac tablets (Diener, Cephalalgia 2006). One objective of this study would be to provide rationale to justify the insurance coverage of this treatment in comparison to generic tablets, because at home treatment is less costly than office visit or emergency department visit to receive IM ketorolac.
A previous study of Cambia demonstrated that this formulation of diclofenac potassium for oral solution is effective in reducing pain intensity within 30 minutes, which may be related to the 15-minute Tmax associated with this formulation. The rapid-onset benefits were sustained through 24 hours post-treatment (Lipton, Cephalalgia 2010)