Sublingual piroxicam in migraine without aura.

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of a single dose of sublingual piroxicam to that of a placebo during acute attacks of migraine without aura. METHODS The drug (N = 30) or a placebo (N = 30) was administered, on randomisation and double-blind basis, to 60 patients between 18 and 50 years of age suffering from migraine without aura. The patients were instructed to take a single tablet sublingually [corresponding to piroxicam 40 mg or placebo] and the severity of the painful symptomatology and associated symptoms were evaluated by this study. RESULTS The patients treated with sublingual piroxicam showed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in pain intensity 15 minutes after ingestion; they went on to show a further reduction in the 24 hours after drug administration. On the contrary, the group treated with placebo showed a significant reduction of symptoms only after seven hours of observation. Associated symptoms disappeared significantly (P < 0.05) after sublingual piroxicam administration. In 83.3%, the drug resulted in excellent to good response as compared to only 10% in the placebo group. No local and systemic side effects were reported with sublingual piroxicam. CONCLUSIONS The present study has demonstrated that for the acute management of migraine without aura sublingual piroxicam showed significant analgesic effect with excellent tolerability.