Rizatriptan for the acute treatment of migraine: Consistency, preference, satisfaction, and quality of life

Rizatriptan is a 5HT (IB/ID) agonist with proven efficacy in the acute treatment of migraine headache. We performed a systematic review of the literature for clinical trials of rizatriptan incorporating important patient outcomes including consistency of response, preference, satisfaction, and quality of life. We found evidence that rizatriptan provides consistent relief of migraine attacks and that patients prefer rizatriptan over other treatments because of its speed of relief. Patient satisfaction with rizatriptan is significantly higher than placebo, but appears equivalent to most other triptans. Migraine-specific quality of life at 24 hours is significantly better in patients treated with rizatriptan compared to placebo, while overall long-term quality of life is less affected. The published clinical trials included in this systematic review are subject to bias due to the open-label nature of preference trials and the doses chosen for comparison in head-to-head trials.