Postpartum headache: is your work-up complete? - 22/08/11
Reprints: Baha Sibai, MD, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, University of Cincinnati, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Room 5052, Medical Sciences Building, PO Box 670526, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0526Résumé |
Objective |
Headache is a common finding in the postpartum period, and there are limited data describing the cause and treatment of women with postpartum headache. Our objective was to describe our experience with women who were hospitalized for postpartum headache and to develop a management algorithm for these women.
Study Design |
Data for 95 women with headache >24 hours after delivery from 2000-2005 were reviewed retrospectively. Maternal assessment included an evaluation for benign and serious causes of headache that included preeclampsia, dural puncture, and neurologic lesions. Neurologic imaging were performed on the basis of initial neurologic findings and clinical course. Outcomes that were studied included cause, a need for cerebral imaging, neurologic findings, maternal complications, and long-term follow-up evaluations.
Results |
The mean onset of headache was 3.4 days (range, 2-32 days) after delivery. Tension-type/migraine headache was the most common cause (47%). Preeclampsia/eclampsia and spinal headache comprised 24% and 16% of cases, respectively. Anesthesia evaluation was required in 15 patients because of suspected spinal headache; blood patch was required in 12 of these patients. Cerebral imaging was performed in 22 patients because of focal neurologic deficits and/or failure to respond to initial therapy; 15 of these women (68%) had abnormal findings. Ten patients had serious cerebral pathologic findings, such as hemorrhage, thrombosis, or vasculopathy. There were no deaths; 2 women had minor residual neurologic damage on follow-up evaluation.
Conclusion |
The evaluation of persistent headaches that develop >24 hours after delivery must be performed in a stepwise fashion and requires a multidisciplinary approach. Preeclampsia should be considered initially in women with hypertension and proteinuria. Normotensive women should be evaluated initially for tension-type/migraine headache or spinal headache. Patients with headache that is refractory to usual therapy and patients with neurologic deficit require cerebral imaging to detect the presence of life-threatening causes.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Key words : postpartum headache, migraine headache, tension headache, spinal headache, preeclampsia
Plan
| Cite this article as: Stella CL, Jodicke CD, How HY, Harkness UF, Sibai BM. Postpartum headache: is your work-up complete? Am J Obstet Gynecol 2007;196:318.e1-318.e7. |
Vol 196 - N° 4
P. 318.e1-318.e7 - avril 2007 Retour au numéro
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