Objective/Background. To investigate the clinical features of headache associated with minor versus moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury and of post-traumatic vs primary headache in children and adolescents.
Methods. The computerized files of a headache clinic were searched for all children referred for post-traumatic headache. Clinical and brain imaging data were collected. Findings were compared between patients with minor or moderate-to-severe post-traumatic headache, and between the study group and a control group of children with headache unrelated to brain injury who attended the same clinic.
Results. The study group included 74 patients after mild (n=60) or moderate-to-severe (n=14) traumatic brain injury; 40 (54%) had migraine-like headache, 23 (31.1%) tension-like headache, and 11 (14.9%) non-specified headache. Fourteen patients (53.8%)had allodynia. On comparison with 174 control patients, the study group had a significantly lower proportion of patients with migraine-like headache and a higher proportion of male patients and patients with allodynia. There was no statistically significant correlation of any of the clinical parameters with the type or severity of the post-traumatic headache or rate of allodynia.
Conclusions. The high rate of allodynia in the study group may indicate a central sensitization in post-traumatic headache and primary migraine.
