PROBLEMS OF DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF HEADACHES IN CHILDREN

Headache is one of the most frequent complaints of patients visiting a doctor (from 2,5 to 15 % of children in different age groups impose similar complaints). Differentiation of headaches, causing only discomfort, and life-threatening headaches is necessary. "Dangerous" headaches are symptoms of the tumor, subarachnoid hemorrhage and bleeding at other sites, stroke, venous thrombosis, meningitis and encephalitis. Grave symptoms include sudden onset of headache, especially with the confusion, lethargy or vomiting, as well as symptoms of a stroke: hemiparesis, ataxia, Horner's syndrome; the emergence of severe or long-term headache after craniocerebral trauma, changes in the characteristics of the current headache and other symptoms. There is a real inconsistency between the complexity of the modern classification of headaches and a few of diagnoses made by doctors. Usually, in clinical practice, neurologist uses only two diagnoses: migraine and tension-type headache. Treatment of primary headaches in children is difficult due to age limits in the use of drugs with proven effectiveness in adults. Patients parents of often ignore the fact that changing of some habits, eating behavior, or simply avoiding trigger factors allows to discontinue the treatment or significantly reduce its volume.

headache, children, migraine, tension headache, ibuprofen