Fran Lowry, June 27, 2023
Transnasal evaporative cooling appears promising as a nonpharmacologic treatment to abort migraine attacks, according to the results of a small study.
Most patients reported relief of their symptoms after receiving 15 minutes of transnasal evaporative cooling, without any need for rescue medication.
Dr Larry Charleston IV
The cooling may modulate the sphenopalatine ganglion, a large ganglion implicated in migraine, lead author Larry Charleston IV, MD, director of the Headache & Facial Pain Division, and professor of Neurology at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, Michigan, told Medscape Medical News.
“The transnasal evaporative cooling device cools by blowing dry, ambient air across the nasal turbinates and may work by neuromodulation via the sphenopalatine ganglion for migraine,” Charleston said.
The findings were presented at the virtual American Headache Society (AHS) Annual Meeting 2023.
A ‘Cool’ Approach to Migraine Treatment
“Everyone who has migraine disease needs abortive treatment,” Charleston said. “There is a need for safe and effective acute treatment for migraine. As we understand more about the pathophysiology of migraine, we learn that peripheral input plays a role in migraine disease.
“I was excited to learn of the device and to learn how we might take advantage of our knowledge of the sphenopalatine ganglia in the treatment of migraine, and was very enthusiastic to be involved in researching a nonpharmacological treatment to abort migraine attacks,” he said. “I thought this approach to migraine treatment was really ‘cool.'”
Twenty-four patients who met diagnostic criteria for episodic migraine with or without aura were randomized to receive 15 minutes of cooling induced by the CoolStat Transnasal Thermal Regulating Device (CoolTech LLC), or to a sham treatment with a CoolStat sham device.
Participants receiving active treatment were further randomized to receive one of the following flow rates: 24 liters per minute (LPM; n = 6 patients), 18 LPM (n = 9 patients), and 6 LPM (n = 9 patients).
All patients were instructed to get to their headache clinic during a migraine attack to start treatment.
The researchers looked at pain levels and most bothersome symptoms at baseline, and then at 2 and 24 hours after treatment. The primary endpoint was pain relief at 2 hours. Other endpoints included tolerability, relief from most bothersome symptoms, and freedom from pain at 2 hours.