The role of migraine-associated symptoms in the clinical pattern of migraine pain

Abstract

Introduction Migraine is a disorder of the multisensory integration of the somatosensory, visual, auditory, olfactory stimuli, which can later cause various combinations of symptoms: headache, photophobia, phonophobia, nausea/vomiting, osmophobia, which distinguish it from other types of headaches. Purpose Highlighting the particularities of the pain phenomenon and the associated symptoms in patients with migraine (frequency, duration and severity of the migraine symptoms). Material and methods 94 patients with migraine were included in the cross-sectional study. Research methods used: clinical (neurological history, objective neurological examination); descriptive (description of the results); statistical (evaluation questionnaires for migraine patients were used as a research tool). The primary data were introduced into Excel and processed in MedCalc. Results Positive correlations were identified between headache intensity and associated symptoms: nausea (Rxy=+0.36, p<0.05), vomiting (Rxy=+0.25, p<0.05), photophobia (Rxy=+0.36, p<0.05), phonophobia (Rxy=+0.52, p<0.0001), anxiety (Rxy=+0.24, p<0.05), panic (Rxy=+0.26, p<0.05). There were positive correlations between the duration of the headache (attack) in hours and the symptoms associated with migraine: anxiety (Rxy=+0.34, p<0.01), dysfunctional respiratory syndrome (Rxy=+0.33, p<0.01). Statistically significant positive correlations were determined between headache intensity and pain character: oppressive (Rxy=+0.28, p<0.05), stinging (Rxy=+0.24, p<0.05) and pulsing (Rxy=+0.24, p<0.05). Conclusions The presence and intensity of the migraine pain event was related to the presence and intensity of the associated symptoms (photophobia, phonophobia, nausea, vomiting, anxiety and panic). Unlike intensity, headache duration in hours correlated only with anxiety and dysfunctional respiratory syndrome. Pulsing pain quality correlates positively with phonophobia. The results support the headache modular theory, which shows that different neuron modules forming the clinical expression of migraine attacks can be activated.