EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON HEADACHE

Abstract

The relation of intracranial pressure to headache has long been a subject of interest, but the available experimental data are limited. The experimental approach to the immediate effect of drainage of cerebrospinal fluid as a headache mechanism has been made by only a few investigators.¹ In contrast, the headache which so often follows routine lumbar puncture has been studied by many. Such headache has been ascribed by a minority to increased,² and by most to decreased, intracranial pressure.³ The mechanism of the other common headache often linked with altered intracranial pressure, that occurring with tumor of the brain, has had less attention. As Northfield⁴ emphasized, a necessary relation between the headache and the increased intracranial pressure has been proved. With these issues in the foreground, the purposes of this investigation were as follows: To ascertain the mechanism of headache following experimental drainage of cerebrospinal fluid. To