The Role of Intranasal and Inhaled Therapies in the Management of Cluster Headache: A Network Meta-analysis.
- 1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
Introduction
There are limited evidence-based nasal therapies available to treat cluster headaches. Likewise, there are not many head-to-head treatment comparisons available because most clinical trials have only compared therapies versus placebos.Objective
To compare different nasal therapies for cluster headache.Data synthesis
We used four databases to search for records and then screened them for eligibility. In randomized studies, the risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool for randomized clinical trials. The data were then retrieved and used in double-arm analyses using the R Software (free and open source). Zolmitriptan 10 mg and oxygen demonstrated the greatest efficacy for headache relief, while oxygen ranked highest for pain-free outcomes. Zolmitriptan 10 mg was most effective in reducing rescue medication use. Across outcomes, zolmitriptan 10 mg and oxygen consistently ranked as the most effective treatments, with no evidence of inconsistency.Conclusion
Intranasal therapeutic sprays expand the treatment options and may provide better results, more rapid relief, and higher patient satisfaction than oral or injectable medications. Although many intranasal therapeutic sprays showed variable efficacy in cluster headache relief, more randomized controlled trials on a large sample of patients with a longer follow-up duration are needed.
Related
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BibTeX
@article{aljeraisi2026role,
title = {{The Role of Intranasal and Inhaled Therapies in the Management of Cluster Headache: A Network Meta-analysis.}},
author = {Talal Aljeraisi},
journal = {International archives of otorhinolaryngology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1055/s-0046-1827860},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921633},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The Role of Intranasal and Inhaled Therapies in the Management of Cluster Headache: A Network Meta-analysis.
AU - Talal Aljeraisi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - International archives of otorhinolaryngology
DO - 10.1055/s-0046-1827860
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921633
AB - Introduction There are limited evidence-based nasal therapies available to treat cluster headaches. Likewise, there are not many head-to-head treatment comparisons available because most clinical trials have only compared therapies versus placebos.Objective To compare different nasal therapies for cluster headache.Data synthesis We used four databases to search for records and then screened them for eligibility. In randomized studies, the risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool for randomized clinical trials. The data were then retrieved and used in double-arm analyses using the R Software (free and open source). Zolmitriptan 10 mg and oxygen demonstrated the greatest efficacy for headache relief, while oxygen ranked highest for pain-free outcomes. Zolmitriptan 10 mg was most effective in reducing rescue medication use. Across outcomes, zolmitriptan 10 mg and oxygen consistently ranked as the most effective treatments, with no evidence of inconsistency.Conclusion Intranasal therapeutic sprays expand the treatment options and may provide better results, more rapid relief, and higher patient satisfaction than oral or injectable medications. Although many intranasal therapeutic sprays showed variable efficacy in cluster headache relief, more randomized controlled trials on a large sample of patients with a longer follow-up duration are needed.
SN - 1809-9777
SN - 1809-4864
ER -