Oral triptans in children and adolescents: an update.

This review evaluates the recent progress in clinical trials on oral triptans for acute migraine in children and adolescents. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) on the treatment of migraine in pediatric patients were rare and difficult to design. In particular, high placebo response in many of the trials made it difficult to prove efficacy of triptans. Using a "novel study design" for RCT, a study successfully proved the efficacy of an oral rizatriptan. This trial enrolled patients with unsatisfactory response to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory or acetaminophen and with migraine lasting longer than 3 h. Rizatriptan was approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (USA) for children and adolescents of 6-17 years. The triptan-NSAID combination drug for pediatric patients also showed efficacy.