Objective: The aim of the present study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of a single dose of sublingual piroxicam to that of a placebo during acute attacks of migraine without aura.
Methods: The drug (N = 30) or a placebo (N = 30) was administered, on randomisation and double-blind basis, to 60 patients between 18 and 50 years of age suffering from migraine without aura. The patients were instructed to take a single tablet sublingually [corresponding to piroxicam 40 mg or placebo] and the severity of the painful symptomatology and associated symptoms were evaluated by this study.
Results: The patients treated with sublingual piroxicam showed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in pain intensity 15 minutes after ingestion; they went on to show a further reduction in the 24 hours after drug administration. On the contrary, the group treated with placebo showed a significant reduction of symptoms only after seven hours of observation. Associated symptoms disappeared significantly (P < 0.05) after sublingual piroxicam administration. In 83.3%, the drug resulted in excellent to good response as compared to only 10% in the placebo group. No local and systemic side effects were reported with sublingual piroxicam.
Conclusions: The present study has demonstrated that for the acute management of migraine without aura sublingual piroxicam showed significant analgesic effect with excellent tolerability.