BACKGROUND: Here we report the prescription patterns by drug type, age, and sex of patients at a large academic pediatric hospital. Because there are few guidelines based on outcome studies in pediatric migraine, physician treatment approaches in children vary.

METHODS:Using the i2b2 query tool, we determined that over an approximately 4 year period, 4839 patients between the ages of 2 and 17 years were observed at Boston Children's Hospital for migraine with or without aura, 59% women and 41% men.

RESULTS:The most common medications prescribed to this population were sumatriptan, amitriptyline, topiramate, ondansetron, and cyproheptadine.

CONCLUSIONS:Our findings support recent data regarding choices of medication in the pediatric population and additionally support current studies and future investigation into controlled trials in the pediatric population.