Headache
Recent clinical, regulatory, research and industry developments relating to this disease.
More than 50 long-term effects of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Symptoms, complications and management of long COVID: a review.
Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine.
Mechanisms of migraine as a chronic evolutive condition.
Idiopathic intracranial hypertension: consensus guidelines on management.
What's happening now
An analyst briefing on current research, clinical, regulatory and industry activity surrounding this disease.
- 4 clinical trials expected to report results, the earliest in Q4 2026.
- Q4 2026Intranasal Sphenopalatine Ganglion Blockade as a Non-invasive, Opioid-sparing Treatment for Headaches Following Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
- Q4 2026Pre-emptive Single Intravenous Lidocaine Dose to Prevent Post-Fundal Pressure Headache During Cesarean Section: The LID-HEAD Multi-center Randomized Controlled Trial
- Q1 2027A Multi-center Randomized Controlled Trial of Efficacy and Safety of Intravenous Ketamine for Chronic Daily Headaches: The KetHead Study
- Q1 2028Efficacy of Sphenopalatine Block Compared to Blood Patch in the Management of Post-dural Puncture Headaches
Clinical MilestonesView all 10Hide
- 2026-06-24Treatment of Headache With Occipital Nerve Blocks: Comparison Trial of Anesthetic With or Without DexamethasoneResults posted
- 2026-05-15A Randomized Study of Dexamethasone as Adjuvant Therapy for Acute Post-traumatic HeadacheResults posted
- 2026-01-29Interventional, Randomized, Double-blind, Parallel-group, Placebo-controlled Study of add-on Eptinezumab Treatment to Brief Educational Intervention for the Preventive Treatment of Migraine in Patients With Dual Diagnosis of Migraine and Medication Overuse HeadacheResults posted
- 2026-07-06Pre-emptive Single Intravenous Lidocaine Dose to Prevent Post-Fundal Pressure Headache During Cesarean Section: The LID-HEAD Multi-center Randomized Controlled TrialResults expected Q4 2026
- 2026-06-08A Multi-center Randomized Controlled Trial of Efficacy and Safety of Intravenous Ketamine for Chronic Daily Headaches: The KetHead StudyResults expected Q1 2027
- 2026-05-27Intranasal Sphenopalatine Ganglion Blockade as a Non-invasive, Opioid-sparing Treatment for Headaches Following Aneurysmal Subarachnoid HemorrhageResults expected Q4 2026
- 2026-02-27Efficacy of Sphenopalatine Block Compared to Blood Patch in the Management of Post-dural Puncture HeadachesResults expected Q1 2028
- 2026-03-01Safety and Efficacy of Botulinum Toxin A in Patients With Posttraumatic Headache: a Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Parallel-group Trial and Investigation of Neuroinflammatory Biomarkers as Predictors of EfficacyPrimary completion
- 2025-12-23Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Single Infusion of Ketamine Combined With Magnesium Sulfate to Treat Refractory Chronic Cluster HeadacheCompleted
- 2025-09-05Atrioventricular Block and Cluster HeadachePrimary completion
- 2026-07-06ClinicalPre-emptive Single Intravenous Lidocaine Dose to Prevent Post-Fundal Pressure Headache During Cesarean Section: The LID-HEAD Multi-center Randomized Controlled TrialResults expected Q4 2026
- 2026-06-24ClinicalTreatment of Headache With Occipital Nerve Blocks: Comparison Trial of Anesthetic With or Without DexamethasoneResults posted
- 2026-06-08ClinicalA Multi-center Randomized Controlled Trial of Efficacy and Safety of Intravenous Ketamine for Chronic Daily Headaches: The KetHead StudyResults expected Q1 2027
- 2026-05-27ClinicalIntranasal Sphenopalatine Ganglion Blockade as a Non-invasive, Opioid-sparing Treatment for Headaches Following Aneurysmal Subarachnoid HemorrhageResults expected Q4 2026
- 2026-05-15ClinicalA Randomized Study of Dexamethasone as Adjuvant Therapy for Acute Post-traumatic HeadacheResults posted
- 2026-03-01ClinicalSafety and Efficacy of Botulinum Toxin A in Patients With Posttraumatic Headache: a Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Parallel-group Trial and Investigation of Neuroinflammatory Biomarkers as Predictors of EfficacyPrimary completion
- 2026-02-27ClinicalEfficacy of Sphenopalatine Block Compared to Blood Patch in the Management of Post-dural Puncture HeadachesResults expected Q1 2028
- 2026-01-29ClinicalInterventional, Randomized, Double-blind, Parallel-group, Placebo-controlled Study of add-on Eptinezumab Treatment to Brief Educational Intervention for the Preventive Treatment of Migraine in Patients With Dual Diagnosis of Migraine and Medication Overuse HeadacheResults posted
- 2025-12-23ClinicalEvaluation of the Efficacy of a Single Infusion of Ketamine Combined With Magnesium Sulfate to Treat Refractory Chronic Cluster HeadacheCompleted
- 2025-09-05ClinicalAtrioventricular Block and Cluster HeadachePrimary completion
Therapeutic landscape
Therapies with a regulatory footing for this condition, alongside the wider set of agents co-studied with it in the literature.
Approval — RAYVOW is indicated for the acute treatment of the headache phase of migraine attacks, wi… (2022)
Clinical trials
The current development programme across all trial phases.
Regulatory timeline
Drug regulatory events matched to this condition by indication — EMA.
European Medicines Agency (CC BY 4.0). Events are matched to this condition by drug indication text — approvals/updates for drugs indicated for it, not disease-specific acts.
Research activity
Key research shaping understanding of this disease, combining the latest publications with the most influential evidence.
Major themes8
- Mental Disorders2
- Pseudotumor Cerebri2
- Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems1
- Banisteriopsis1
- Epilepsy1
- Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists1
- Hallucinogens1
- Headache1
Leading journals6
- The journal of headache and pain4
- European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists1
- Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry1
- Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)1
- Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine1
- Scientific reports1
Leading researchers8
- Absalon J1
- Aiyegbusi OL1
- Andreou AP1
- Bailey R1
- Breeksema JJ1
- Bsteh G1
- Burdon MA1
- Burstein R1
Affiliations (unnormalised)6
- Danish Headache Center2
- Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust1
- Amsterdam University Medical Center1
- Australian Institute of Migraine1
- Birmingham Health Partners Centre for Regulatory Science and Innovation1
- Center for Infectious Medicine1
Related conditions
Diseases frequently studied alongside this one. Number shows shared papers.
Disease profile
A grounded synthesis of the condition — overview, causes, mechanism, risk factors and current standard of care.
Headache is pain in the cranial region. It may occur as an isolated benign symptom or as a manifestation of a wide variety of headache disorders.
Headache has a broad etiology and may arise as a symptom of many different headache disorders. The supplied grounding does not support a more specific causal classification beyond this general statement.
The supplied grounding does not provide a specific biological mechanism for headache itself. It only indicates that headache can be a symptom within diverse headache disorders, including conditions such as migraine and idiopathic intracranial hypertension.
The supplied grounding does not identify specific risk factors for headache in general. It does note that headache can occur in the context of long COVID and other headache disorders, but does not support broader risk-factor statements.
Management is described only at a general level in the supplied grounding. Headache disorders are treated with a range of therapies, and the literature on idiopathic intracranial hypertension emphasizes interdisciplinary management; long COVID reviews also note multidisciplinary care for persistent symptoms. No specific drug classes or treatment regimens for headache itself are supported by the grounding.
AI-generated summary grounded in MeSH and 6 peer-reviewed sources. Informational only — not medical advice. Generated 2026-07-07.
Reference
Authoritative identity, definition & identifiers.
The symptom of PAIN in the cranial region. It may be an isolated benign occurrence or manifestation of a wide variety of HEADACHE DISORDERS.
- Disease identity & definition — NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), public domain
- Clinical trials — ClinicalTrials.gov (U.S. National Library of Medicine)
- Research activity — Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI) + OpenAlex-derived paper links
- Related entities are derived from literature co-mention (studied together) — associative, not causal.