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8 - The Patient with a Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgia in the Emergency Department

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2017

By
Anne Ducros
Edited by
Serena L. Orr ,
Benjamin W. Friedman  and
David W. Dodick
Serena L. Orr
Affiliation:
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa
Benjamin W. Friedman
Affiliation:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York
David W. Dodick
Affiliation:
Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ
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Summary

Abstract

Trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs) are primary headaches responsible for unilateral facial and/or cranial pain with ipsilateral autonomic signs. In the absence of any radiological or biological marker, diagnosis relies upon clinical history. Patients are often misdiagnosed as having secondary headaches due to sinus, dental, or eye disorders or as having migraine, leading to inadequate management. Efficient treatments do exist, and differ among the various TACs. Patients with TACs often present to the emergency department (ED) with excruciating headache. These are pain urgencies that require quick diagnosis and tailored treatment. Therefore, management of TACs, and especially of cluster headache (CH), the most common TAC, should be well known by ED physicians.

Type
Chapter
Information
Emergency Headache
Diagnosis and Management
 , pp. 80 - 87
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

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