Title: IV Fluids for Headache?<br/>Author: WanTsu Wendy Chang<br/><a href='http://umem.org/profiles/faculty/1322/'>[Click to email author]</a><hr/><div> </div> <div> <strong>IV Fluids for Headache?</strong></div> <div> <ul> <li> Headache is the 4th most common ED visit in the US.</li> <li> Clinical experience suggests that IV fluids (IVF) are commonly used as adjunctive treatment for headaches, however, the efficacy is unknown.</li> <li> A retrospective study using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) found that <u>ED length of stay was significantly greater in patients who received IVF</u> than in those who did not (202 min vs. 131 min, p<0.001) even after adjusting for initial pain score, sex, age, and mode of arrival. </li> <li> A post-hoc analysis of data collected from 4 ED-based migraine trials found that <u>IVF was not associated with improvement</u> of pain score or sustained headache freedom.</li> <li> There is no current evidence to suggest a direct analgesic effect of IVF in the treatment of headaches.</li> </ul> </div> <p> </p> <fieldset><legend>References</legend>
<ul> <li> Jones CW, et al. Epidemiology of intravenous fluid use for headache treatment: Findings from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. <i>Am J Emerg Med</i>. 2017. [Epub ahead of print]</li> <li> Balbin JEB, et al. Intravenous fluids for migraine: a post hoc analysis of clinical trial data. <i>Am J Emerg Med</i>. 2016;34:713-6.</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: center;"> <em><strong>Follow me on Twitter @EM_NCC</strong></em></p> </fieldset>