Post-traumatic headache

Concussion (mild traumatic brain injury) affects approximately 50 million people annually. Headache is the most common symptom after concussion and persists in up to 50% of those affected for at least one-year. The biological underpinnings of and the efficacy and tolerability of treatments for post-traumatic headache has historically received little attention. While treatment in clinical practice is mostly directly at the underlying phenotype of the headache, persistent post-traumatic headache is considered to be less responsive to treatments used to treat migraine or tension-type headache. Over the past several years, significant pre-clinical research has begun to elucidate the mechanism(s) involved in the development of post-traumatic headache, and a concerted effort to evaluate the efficacy of selected treatments for persistent post-traumatic headache has begun. This presentation will review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and emerging data on the prevention and treatment of post-traumatic headache.