Abstract

Background: Migraine is the most common problem in the world and few angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have previously been shown to be effective in migraine prophylaxis. Aim and
Objective: This research aimed to determine the efficacy of enalapril in migraine prophylaxis.
Materials and Methods: A hospital-based observational study of 6 months carried out at outpatient department. A total of 50 patients with migraine attacks of more than 5 in a month were selected and were subjected to complete physical examination, particularly neurological examination. The Headache Impact Test-6 was used to measure the patient’s headaches in terms of mean severity, duration, and frequency within 1 month. A record of each headache attack was maintained by rating on the visual analog scale from 1 to 10 depending on the severity of each attack. Patients were prescribed enalapril 10 mg daily with a dose divided into 5 mg twice daily for 2 months of the study duration.
Results: Headache severity before treatment was 8.33 ± 0.39 and it significantly reduced to 4.65 ± 0.30 in the 1st month and in the 2nd month, it reduced to 4.07 ± 0.50. The mean head ache duration before treatment was 15.94 ± 3.30 and with treatment with enalapril it reduced to 6.79 ± 0.74 in the 1st month and 5.84 ± 0.74 in the 2nd month. The mean headache frequency before the treatment was 14.10 ± 3.00 and by treating with enalapril, it significantly reduced in the 1st month to 9.80 ± 1.79 and 8.76 ± 1.53 in the 2nd month. Conclusion: Enalapril can be beneficial as it decreases the incidence, intensity and duration of the headaches in migraine prophylaxis. The results of our study support the use of ACE inhibitors in the migraine prophylaxis.