A review of studies suggests surgery may not be effective in relieving migraines due to the flaws observed in previous probes.
Dr. Paul Mathew, lead analyst of the study and neurologist/headache specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass., and his colleagues looked at two studies related to migraine surgeries claiming that patients experienced relief after they underwent the procedures.
For one study, 75 participants divided into 49 who underwent real migraine surgery, while the rest had placebo surgery performed on them. The result claimed that 84 percent of the first group reported 50 percent pain relief while 58 percent of the second group reported the same improvement.
The second study had the same setup, but subjects were followed by five years before releasing the result.
Mathew revealed some flaws in the sampling methodology of the studies wherein the researchers failed to cite whether the participants were taking migraine medications prior to, and following, the study period. He also questioned how the researchers assessed improvement.
Migraine surgery is defined as any surgical procedure performed to reduce or prevent migraines. Patients usually resort to operation if other treatments fail to relieve the pain. Current surgical procedures include cauterization of the external blood vessels of the scalp and removal of the muscles that trigger migraines. The cost of surgery ranges from $10,000 to $15,000.
"It's an invasive procedure that has risks, it's expensive, and it's unproven," said Dr. Audrey Halpern, a headache specialist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, to Healthday News. "On its face, we should be skeptical." Halpern was not involved in the review.
Mathew recommended migraine sufferers stick to currently approved treatments instead of undergoing procedures that have not been approved by medical officials.
The results of the study will be discussed at the upcoming 56th American Headache Society meeting in Los Angeles.
