Introduction

The abortive therapy of migraine ranges from the use of simple analgesics such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s) or acetaminophen to parenteral medications such as dihydroergotamine or sumatriptan. Abortive treatments are usually more effective if they are given early in the course of the headache; a large single dose tends to work better than repetitive small doses. In difficult cases, an abortive regimen that contains several medications may have a more pronounced response than a single drug abortive regimen.