Managing Cluster Headaches

Course overview

One of the most agonizing types of headache is the cluster headache. Cluster headaches are a neurovascular and chronobiological headache disorder. These headaches typically present with intense, strictly one-sided pain that can be orbital, supraorbital, temporal, or any combination of these. Most cluster headaches have a short duration, ranging from 15 to 180 minutes, and can occur as often as every other day to up to eight times a day. The episodic pattern is key to diagnosis, and the treatment of cluster headaches is usually drug therapy. For select patients with intractable headaches, a variety of neuromodulation procedures may help reduce or eliminate cluster headaches. The goal of this course is to provide pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and physicians or providers in healthcare settings with information about the presentation, pathophysiology, and treatment of cluster headaches.