Intranasal Lidocaine to Treat Pediatric Migraine in the Emergency Department

This will be a double-blinded, randomized-controlled trial using intranasal lidocaine to provide fast-acting pain relief in pediatric patients presenting with migraine to an urban pediatric emergency department (ED). Typically, abortive therapy for migraine in many emergency departments begins with oral analgesics such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen. However, many patients with inadequate pain relief after oral analgesics will require intravenous (IV) medications to abort their migraine symptoms. These medications can take up to thirty minutes or more for the onset of action to begin, potentially leaving patients in significant pain during that time. Also, obtaining IV access in children can be time-consuming and technically difficult, further delaying time to pain relief. Subjects will be given either intranasal lidocaine or placebo while awaiting IV placement and IV metoclopramide administration. Pain scales and associated migraine symptoms will be compared between the two arms before study medication administration and again at 5, 10, and 20 minutes.