The prevalence of migraine is high, affecting a significant proportion of the adult population during their most productive years of life and promoting impairment of their normal daily activities. Although guidelines for the acute treatment of migraine are available, outcome parameters are sometimes still below the expectations of both patients and physicians. Triptans represented an advance in clinical practice and have become the most well-studied class of medication for migraine. These agents present class I evidence for efficacy. However, they differ with regard to several of their clinical parameters, including onset of relief and consistency of response. Rizatriptan is a selective agonist of the 5-hydroxytryptophan(1B/1D )receptors, with proven superiority over placebo, ergotamine and selected oral triptans, demonstrating a good profile of safety and tolerability.