Effects of acetaminophen and ibuprofen in children with migraine receiving preventive treatment with magnesium

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate both the effects of ibuprofen and/or acetaminophen for the acute treatment of primary migraine in children in or out prophylactic treatment with magnesium. Methods: The study had been approved by the Researchers Ethics Committee of the “Pugliese-Ciaccio” Hospital (protocol number 720/2010; EUDRACT NUMBER 2012-005737-36) and the children ranging from the ages of 5 to 18 years with at least four attack/month of primary migraine were enrolled. A Visual Analogical Scale was used to evaluate pain intensity at the moment of admission to the study (start of the study) and every month up to 18 months later (end of the study). Results: 160 children of both sexes were assigned in four groups to receive a treatment with acetaminophen or ibuprofen without or with magnesium. Migraine pain endurance and monthly frequency were similar in the four groups. Both acetaminophen and ibuprofen induced a significant decrease in pain intensity (p<0.01), without a time-dependent correlation, but didn’t modify its frequency. Magnesium pre-treatment induced a significant decrease in pain intensity (P<0.01) without a time-dependent correlation, in both acetaminophen and ibuprofen treated children and also significantly reduced (P<0.01) the pain relief timing during acetaminophen but not during ibuprofen treatment (P<0.01). In both acetaminophen and ibuprofen-groups, magnesium pre-treatment significantly reduced the pain frequency (P<0.01) Conclusions: Magnesium increased the efficacy of ibuprofen and acetaminophen with not age-related effects.