Increased incidence of migraine in women correlates with obstetrics and gynaecological surgical procedures

Migraine is a common chronic neurological disorder; yet no possible aetiology has been identified so far. There is a debate that migraine worsens in women who undergo procedures such as hysterectomy, dilation and curettage (D&C) or cesarean section for delivery. Hence, the present study was attempted to explore the link between procedures like D&C, hysterectomy and cesarean section for delivery and the prevalence of migraine in women. A total of 185 migraine patients were screened based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the International Headache Classification guidelines and 70 females who satisfied the inclusion criteria were included for the study. Of the 70 female patients, the numbers of married and unmarried women were 47 and 27, respectively. About 36 married women (80%, 95% CI: 0.146-0.104) had undergone the procedures related to obstetrics and gynaecology as per their medical history. Interestingly, 12 patients (33%, 95% CI: 0.148-0.176) had not experienced migraine attack prior to the above mentioned surgeries. Although, the age adjusted incidence of diagnosed migraine per 100,000 populations showed higher risk between 16-20 years of age (95% CI: 0.104-0.121), significant risk (95% CI: 0.086-0.113) was also observed in the women of 31-35 years age group in the present study. Based on the present study, surgeries such as D&C, hysterectomy and cesarean section for delivery increased the prevalence of migraine in women. Therefore, such procedures should be avoided unless otherwise essential, particularly in patients with positive past history of migraine.