Diagnosis and treatment of head and facial pain [Diagnose und Therapie von Kopf- und Gesichtsschmerzen]

The symptom headache is very frequent. Most frequently headache is the leading symptom of a primary headache syndrome such as migraine or tension-type headache. Sometimes it is caused by another disease. In everyday clinical practice it is important to diagnose and treat primary head-aches properly. It is even more important not to miss a secondary headache, which is rare, but if misdiagnosed could conceal life-threatening conditions. This review provides an overview of the clinical picture, diagnostic procedures and treatment strategies of frequent headache syndromes such as migraine, tension-type headache, medication overuse headache, trigeminal autonomic cephalgias and trigeminal neuralgia. This is followed by a brief summary on symptomatic head-ache caused by non-neurological diseases as well as on diagnostic procedures and management of headache in the emergency situation. © Springer Medizin Verlag 2009.