Headache Clinics : Organisation, Patients and Treatment

There are few specialised headache centres throughout the world and those that do exist are often not developed enough to provide the services required. This book takes a look at the current situation examining the organisation of headache clinics, methods of diagnosis and treatment and how the future of headache clinics can be improved.

Headache is a huge public health problem and migraine alone cost 27 billion Euros per year in Europe. It is therefore important how the health care service for headache patients is organised throughout the world. Patients seen at headache clinics are more severely affected than those seen in general practice, and headache clinics need to be familiar with a long list of relatively rare headache disorders. Part of the "Frontiers in Headache Research" series, this volume is the first book to focus specifically on headache clinics, their classification and organization, their methods of diagnosis, and their approaches to multi-disciplinary management. The clinical features of patients seen in headache clinics are thoroughly discussed. The value of a number of diagnostic laboratory techniques including when and how to use neuro-imaging is discussed. Also a number of more specialised methods employed only in referral headache centres are covered, such as nitro-glycerine challenge, indomethacin test, and oxygen breathing. The treatment options for severely affected patients are discussed including the possibilities of combining two or more prophylactic medications, the use of epidural blood patch and the different methods for discontinuation of medication overuse. This volume will be an invaluable resource for neurologists, physicians in headache/pain clinics and interested general practitioners.