Caffeine as an adjuvant to ibuprofen in treating childhood headaches.

Author(s): Dooley JM, Gordon KE, Wood EP, Brna PM, MacSween J, Fraser A

Affiliation(s): Pediatric Neurology Division, Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. jdooley@dal.ca

Publication date & source: 2007-07, Pediatr Neurol., 37(1):42-6.

Publication type: Randomized Controlled Trial

In adults, caffeine has been shown to enhance the effectiveness of most analgesics, including ibuprofen. This double-blind cross-over pilot study evaluated the effect of ibuprofen and caffeine compared with ibuprofen and placebo in 12 children with headaches. Patients completed diaries for both headaches. Outcome measures included a five-faces severity scale, a measure of clinical disability, and a scale of pain severity. Comparison of the cumulative response scores revealed a trend toward a greater response to ibuprofen-caffeine treatment of headaches (P = 0.14, P = 0.09, and P = 0.07 for the three measures, respectively). Further larger studies are needed to confirm this effect and to identify potential responders.