Post-traumatic cephalalgia

Abstract

After traumatic brain injury (TBI), a host of symptoms of varying severity and associated functional impairment may occur. One of the most commonly encountered and challenging to treat are the post-traumatic cephalalgias. Post-traumatic cephalalgia (PTC) or headache is often conceptualized as a single entity as currently classified using the ICHD-3. Yet, the terminology applicable to the major primary, non-traumatic, headache disorders such as migraine, tension headache, and cervicogenic headache are often used to specify the specific type of headache the patients experiences seemingly disparate from the unitary definition of post-traumatic headache adopted by ICHD-3. More complex post-traumatic presentations attributable to brain injury as well as other headache conditions are important to consider as well as other causes such as medication overuse headache and medication induced headache. Treatment of any post-traumatic cephalalgia must be optimized by understanding that there may be more than one headache pain generator, that comorbid traumatic problems may contribute to the pain presentation and that pre-existing conditions could impact both symptom complaint, clinical presentation and recovery. Any treatment for PTC must harmonize with ongoing medical and psychosocial aspects of recovery.