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AAN and AHS updated guidance for choosing and monitoring adult migraine prevention

Neurology (PubMed)Aug 31, 2026

AI-summarized from the linked source. Educational brief, not medical advice.

Brief summary

A joint American Academy of Neurology and American Headache Society guideline updates evidence-based recommendations for starting, selecting, monitoring, and discontinuing preventive migraine medication in adults.

What NurseJet pulled from the source

The guideline is based on a multidisciplinary systematic review of evidence through June 6, 2024. Its scope includes when to start prevention, medication choice, efficacy and adverse-effect assessment, discontinuation, medication overuse, older adults, pregnancy and lactation, and coexisting fibromyalgia, obesity, or hypertension; the PubMed abstract does not provide the individual recommendation statements.

Why this matters for nurses

Migraine prevention is not a one-size-fits-all medication choice. Nurses can improve safety and follow-up by capturing headache burden, medication use, reproductive considerations, comorbidities, adverse effects, and whether the preventive plan is meeting the patient's goals.

Bedside takeaway

Capture headache burden, medication use, adverse effects, comorbidities, and reproductive context before preventive-treatment review.

How This Applies in Practice

Use this when: Preparing an adult with migraine for preventive-medication initiation, follow-up, or reassessment.

On your shift

  • Reconcile preventive and acute migraine medicines, frequency of use, adherence, and patient-reported adverse effects.
  • Document headache days, functional burden, response to treatment, medication-overuse concerns, and the patient's priorities.
  • Surface pregnancy or lactation, older age, hypertension, obesity, fibromyalgia, and other relevant conditions to the prescribing team.
Keep in mind: Use the full guideline for medication-specific decisions and discontinuation criteria. Follow facility policy and provider orders.

Key takeaways

  • The multidisciplinary panel followed the American Academy of Neurology clinical-guideline process.
  • Recommendations address when to start and how to choose preventive medication.
  • The guideline considers comorbidities, older age, pregnancy and lactation, sex-related factors, and medication overuse.
  • Treatment efficacy, adverse effects, and decisions about discontinuation are part of the recommended decision framework.

Practice implications

  • Reconcile acute and preventive migraine medicines, document headache frequency and functional burden, ask about overuse and adverse effects, and surface pregnancy, lactation, age, and relevant comorbidities to the prescribing team. Use the full guideline for drug-specific recommendations.

Limitations & cautions

  • The PubMed abstract describes the guideline's scope but does not reproduce its individual recommendation statements, medication-specific cautions, or strength-of-recommendation ratings. This brief therefore does not identify a preferred drug or supply dosing guidance.
  • AI-summarized from the linked source. Review the original article before applying to practice.

Citations

Exact source links

Public citations are filtered to exact credible source pages. Homepage-only or invalid links stay in admin review and are not shown here.

Neurology (PubMed)

Neurology (PubMed). Pharmacologic Treatment for Migraine Prevention in Adults Practice Guideline Recommendations: Report of the AAN Guidelines Subcommittee and the American Headache Society.

Open original source

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42673560/

Professional education only

This summary does not replace clinical judgment, facility policy, provider orders, or official guidelines. Verify practice changes against the original source and local protocol.

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