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Primary Stabbing Headache in Adults and Pediatrics: a Review

  • Uncommon Headache Syndromes (J Ailani, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Primary stabbing headache (PSH) is an under-recognized primary headache disorder, which often goes undiagnosed. It is mainly characterized by its ultrashort stabbing quality and can be easily overlooked both by patients and providers as it is often not severe enough to interfere significantly with daily life. However, PSH may be severe and require therapy, and it is important for providers to recognize this headache type, both in adult and pediatric populations, as well as to be able to distinguish it from secondary headache disorders. PSH also may be more common than previously thought.

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Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

Suzanne Hagler and Karen Ballaban-Gil declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Matthew S. Robbins is a section editor for Current Pain and Headache Reports. Dr. Robbins has received honoraria from North-Shore LIJ Hofstra School of Medicine, SUNY-Downstate College of Medicine, and payment for manuscript preparation from Medlink Neurology and American College of Physicians (PIER Module). Dr. Robbins received payment for the development of educational presentations including service on speakers' bureaus from American Headache Society and Prova Education CME. Dr. Robbins received royalties from Wiley.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Child Neurology, Department of Neurology, Montefiore Medical Center Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Suzanne Hagler & Karen Ballaban-Gil

  2. Montefiore Headache Center, Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1575 Blondell Avenue, Suite 225, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA

    Matthew S. Robbins

Authors
  1. Suzanne Hagler
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  2. Karen Ballaban-Gil
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  3. Matthew S. Robbins
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew S. Robbins.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Uncommon Headache Syndromes

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Hagler, S., Ballaban-Gil, K. & Robbins, M.S. Primary Stabbing Headache in Adults and Pediatrics: a Review. Curr Pain Headache Rep 18, 450 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-014-0450-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-014-0450-3

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