About 40 percent of treatments had a "moderate effect" on participants' pain levels, the findings showed.
Side effects from the treatment included heartburn, nausea, vomiting, bleeding, worsening of asthma, kidney impairment and rash.
"Our findings warrant more research into the use of IV aspirin for severe headache or migraine," Goadsby stated in the news release.
Although Goadsby noted that prior research had similarly illustrated the apparent benefits of IV aspirin by comparing pain levels against a second pool of patients who did not get the treatment, Dr. Carl Stafstrom, a professor of neurology and pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, pointed out that the current effort did not do so.
"And certainly I would want to see this approach tested with such a 'control group' to make sure that the treatment is truly safe as well as effective," Stafstrom cautioned.
"But it's an encouraging response," he added. "And there's certainly a need for new and improved treatment modalities for acute headaches among hospitalized patients. So I would say that any new treatment is welcome. But this needs more exploration."
More information
For more on migraine and headache treatment, visit the American Academy of Family Physicians.
-- Alan Mozes
SOURCES: American Academy of Neurology, news release, Sept. 14, 2010; Carl Stafstrom, M.D., Ph.D., professor, neurology and pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
| Copyright©2010 ScoutNews,LLC. All rights reserved |