A study suggests that remote electrical neuromodulation (REN), an acute migraine treatment, is also an effective treatment in patients with chronic migraine. The findings appeared in the journal Pain Reports.
In this open-label, single-arm study, researchers treated 126 patients with chronic migraine with the REN device (Nerivio, Theranica Bio-Electronics Ltd, Israel) over the duration of four weeks. The study subjects used an electronic diary to record their symptoms at treatment initiation, two hours following treatment, and 24 hours after treatment. The primary end point was defined as the percentage of subjects who achieved pain relief at two hours posttreatment. Secondary end points were defined as pain freedom and improvement of associated symptoms and functional disability. Overall, 91 subjects had evaluable treatment with REN and were included in the analysis.
The results showed that relief and pain disappearance at two hours were achieved by 59.3% and 20.9% of modified intent-to-treat subjects. Sustained pain relief at 24 hours was observed in 64.4% of subjects who achieved pain relief at two hours.
Overall, the findings of the study demonstrate that REN has a favorable impact on nausea, photophobia, and phonophobia and improves functional ability. Only one device-related adverse event was reported in this study.
“Remote electrical neuromodulation treatments results in the relief of migraine headaches and associated symptoms, thus offering a drug-free acute treatment option for people with chronic migraine,” the researchers concluded.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34667919/
Keywords: Conditioned pain modulation, Medication overuse headache, Nerivio, Nonpharmacological, REN
