Surgical patients with a history of migraine have a higher risk of perioperative ischemic stroke and can have an increased 30-day hospital readmission rate, according to a study published in The BMJ.
Researchers evaluated 124,558 surgical patients at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital and two satellite campuses between January 2007 and August 2014. The primary outcome measure was perioperative ischemic stroke occurring within 30 days after surgery in patients with and without migraine and migraine aura. The secondary outcome was hospital readmission within 30 days of surgery.
Around 10,179 patients had any migraine diagnosis, of whom 12.6 percent had migraine with aura and 87.4 percent had migraine without aura.
Here are five findings:
1. Overall, 0.6 percent of patients experienced perioperative ischemic strokes within 30 days of surgery.
2. Patients with migraine were at increased risk of perioperative ischemic stroke compared with patients without migraine.
3. The risk was higher in patients with migraine with aura than in those with migraine without aura.
4. The predicted absolute risk is 2.4 perioperative ischemic strokes for every 1,000 surgical patients. This increases to 4.3 for every 1,000 patients with any migraine diagnosis.
5. Additionally, patients with migraine diagnosis had a higher readmission rate to the hospital within 30 days of discharge.