A controlled study of short-term treatment of tension headache.

A double-blind trial was carried out in 12 patients with chronic recurring tension headache to compare the effectiveness of treatment with an analgesic combination ("Syndol") and placebo. Treatment was confined to the period of an attack and the response in the 46 attacks studied showed that, in those of mild to moderate severity, significantly more patients had initial relief within 15 minutes after active treatment than after placebo, and significantly fewer tablets were required to produce complete remission of symptoms for more than 48 hours. The interval between attacks, however, was not significantly affected by active drug or placebo. Severe attacks, which occurred only in the periods assigned to active treatment, required significantly more tablets and a day longer for complete remission.