Safety and Efficacy of IV Lidocaine in the Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Status Migraine.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of IV lidocaine in treating children and adolescents with status migraine.

DESIGN

Retrospective observational study.

SETTING

Single center PICU.

PATIENTS

Children and adolescents admitted with status migraine.

INTERVENTION

IV lidocaine.

MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS

Thirty-three lidocaine infusions were administered to 28 patients with status migraine. Two patients were excluded from analysis, leaving 31 infusions administered to 26 patients for analysis. Patients' ages ranged from 10 to 19 years with an average of 14.9 ± 2.4 years. Mean duration of hospitalization was 4.6 ± 1.5 days. Lidocaine was administered as a bolus (2.9 ± 0.18 mg/kg) in 80.6% (95% CI, 63.7-90.8%) of the patients, followed by an infusion, which was started at a mean rate of 1.29 ± 0.2 mg/kg/hr with mean maximum dose of 1.56 ± 0.27 mg/kg/hr. The highest lidocaine drip was 2.25 mg/kg/hr and lowest 1.125 mg/kg/hr. Lidocaine was interrupted in one patient secondary to side effects: chest pain and anxiety. On average, it took 16.3 ± 12.9 hours for 50% reduction in pain scores (range, 1.3-40.4 hr) and 19.3 ± 19.3 hours for complete resolution (0.8-72.1). 90.3% of cases (95% CI, 75.1-96.6%) experienced pain resolution with 51.6% (95% CI, 34.8-68%) encountering a relapse of pain. Mean pain scores at the time of discharge were 1 ± 1.6 (median, 0). Both mean reported highest and lowest scores dropped over the course of the 5 days from 5.1 ± 1.9 and 2.1 ± 2.4 on day 1 to 1.0 ± 1.4 and 0 on day 5 of therapy. One-way analysis by analysis of variance for high pain score by day was statistically significant with a p value of less than 0.01.

CONCLUSIONS

In the appropriate patient population, IV lidocaine may be a safe and effective treatment for children and adolescents with status migraine. Larger prospective studies need to be done not only to evaluate safety and efficacy but also the analgesic longevity of IV lidocaine post discharge.