Intranasal Ketorolac Versus Intravenous Ketorolac for Treatment of Migraine Headaches in Children

Phase 3

Completed

Interventions: Drug: Ketorolac, intranasal
Drug: Ketorolac, intravenous
Drug: Placebo, intravenous
Drug: Placebo, intranasal

Brief Summary: Ketorolac is an evidence-based, first-line acute migraine therapy that is commonly used in the pediatric population; however, it is typically administered by the intravenous (IV) or intramuscular (IM) routes, both of which require a painful and distressing needle stick to administer.

The intranasal (IN) route is a painless and effective way of administering analgesics, including ketorolac: IN ketorolac has been shown to be an effective analgesic in adults for painful conditions, including acute migraine headaches. However, IN ketorolac has been understudied in children, and it is not known how effective it is compared to IV ketorolac, which is currently the most common way of administering ketorolac to children. If IN ketorolac is shown to be no less effective than IV ketorolac, IN ketorolac may be a viable and painless alternative to effectively treat acute migraine headaches in children.

Therefore, our primary aim is to demonstrate that IN ketorolac is non-inferior to IV ketorolac for reducing pain in children with acute migraine headaches.

Detailed Description: Primary Aim: Determine whether intranasal (IN) ketorolac is non-inferior to intravenous (IV) ketorolac for reducing pain in children with acute migraine headaches. We hypothesize that IN ketorolac is non-inferior to IV ketorolac in reducing acute migraine headache pain by a minimum clinically significant difference within 60 minutes of administration.

Secondary Aim: Determine whether there is a difference in time to achieve a clinically significant reduction in pain after receiving IN ketorolac compared to IV ketorolac. We hypothesize that there is no difference between IN ketorolac and IV ketorolac in the time it takes to achieve a clinically significant reduction in pain.

We will conduct a prospective, double-blinded, randomized, non-inferiority, parallel 1:1 clinical trial of eligible children in a single urban pediatric ED. We will block randomize patients to receive either 1 mg/kg IN ketorolac and an IV placebo (study group A), or 0.5 mg/kg IV ketorolac and an IN placebo (study group B).

We will assess the patient's pain at baseline, and then at 10 minutes, 30 minutes and 60 minutes after administration of the study drug. The patient will then be assessed at 2 hours and 24 hours after study drug administration for outcomes related to efficacy, function, and safety.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Present to the emergency department with a migraine headache as defined by the modified Irma criteria. The modified Irma criteria are as follows: Headache episodes of 1-168 hours (7 days) presenting with at least 3 of the following 6 criteria: moderate to severe episode of impaired daily activities; focal localization of headache; pulsatile description; nausea or vomiting or abdominal pain; photophobia or phonophobia or avoidance of light and noise; symptoms increasing with activity or resolving by rest.
Headache severity of moderate to severe pain (i.e. at least 4/10 on the Faces Pain Scale - Revised)
Requiring IV fluids and any IV medication (for example: ketorolac, metoclopramide, prochlorperazine, ondansetron) as part of their headache treatment, as per their treating attending physician

Exclusion Criteria

Contraindication to receiving ketorolac
Receipt of an NSAID within six hours of study drug administration
Presence of an intranasal obstruction that cannot be readily cleared
Inability to speak English or Spanish
Unable to complete self-report measures of pain or questionnaires
Critical illness
Frequent use of drugs for headache (i.e. regular intake of analgesics for acute headaches on more than 10 days per month).

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Ketorolac, intranasal	Ketorolac, intranasal	1. Ketorolac 1 mg/kg, maximum dose 30 mg. To be administered by intranasal route, single dose. 2. Placebo, intravenous.
Ketorolac, intranasal	Placebo, intravenous	1. Ketorolac 1 mg/kg, maximum dose 30 mg. To be administered by intranasal route, single dose. 2. Placebo, intravenous.
Ketorolac, intravenous	Ketorolac, intravenous	1. Ketorolac 0.5 mg/kg, maximum dose 30 mg. To be administered by intravenous route, single dose. 2. Placebo, intranasal.
Ketorolac, intravenous	Placebo, intranasal	1. Ketorolac 0.5 mg/kg, maximum dose 30 mg. To be administered by intravenous route, single dose. 2. Placebo, intranasal.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Pain Score After Analgesic Administration (Faces Pain Scale - Revised (FPS-R)	60 minutes	Measure the change in pain score after administration of analgesic using the Faces Pain Scale - Revised (FPS-R) at 60 minutes after analgesic administration. The FPS-R is scored from 0 (no pain) to 10 (maximum pain intensity, i.e. worst outcome).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Time to Achieve Clinically Significant Reduction in Pain After Analgesic Administration (Pain Score)	10, 30, 60 and 120 minutes	Pain score will be assessed at 10, 30, 60 and 120 minutes after analgesic administration, until pain score decreases by 2/10 on the Faces Pain Scale - Revised (FPS-R). The FPS-R is scored from 0 (no pain) to 10 (maximal pain, i.e. worst outcome)

Locations (1): NewYork Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital
🇺🇸
New York, New York, United States