intravenous valproate versus subcutaneous sumatriptan in acute migraine attack

migraine is a common and incapacitating neurologic disorder manifesting with episodic moderate to a severe headache and other symptoms such as photophobia, phonophobia, nausea, and vomiting. triptans and ergot compounds have been used as treatment options for an acute migraine headache for many years. triptans are considered the first line of treatment in patients with moderate to a severe migraine. although the triptans are commonly used at any time during a migraine attack; they are more efficacious when used in the early stages of a migraine. intravenous valproic acid has been shown to be well tolerated, safe, and with rapid onset of action in patients with acute moderate to severe and even refractory migraine. sodium valproate is a food and drug administration (fda)–approved drug for prophylaxis of a migraine with and without aura. in this study, the main goal was to compare the effectiveness of sumatriptan versus valproate in an acute migraine. a randomized clinical trial including 37 patients with an acute migraine was considered to compare the effectiveness of sumatriptan versus valproate. the patients were divided into two groups. in first group, 6 mg subcutaneous of sumatriptan and in the second group 15 mg/kg of valproate was administered. the outcomes including pain and drug adverse effects were compared across the groups. a total of 37 patients (7 male and 30 female) were evaluated in two groups. the difference between two groups regarding sex and age was not significant ( p >0.05). the mean pain scores reduced from 8.3 to 4.7 and from 8.3 to 2.2 after one hour of treatment in sumatriptan and valproate groups, respectively. response to treatment in valproate group was faster and more effective than sumatriptan group ( p < 0.05).the results indicated that valproate was more effective and with the faster response in patients with an acute migraine in comparison with sumatriptan without any recurrence and remarkable side effects.