The Effect of Bariatric Surgery on Migraine Headache in Morbid Obese Patients

Migraine is a common and chronic neuro-inflammatory disease with progressive and episodic headache manifestation that leads to considerable disability. Many studies recognized that obesity is a risk factor for progression of migraine. Furthermore, both migraine and obesity is highly prevalent and important risk factors of chronic cardiovascular disease, stroke, and other inflammatory disease. Thus, it is very important if weight loss could alleviate the migraine headache and its related comorbidities.
Aim: The present review article was conducted to assess the potential effect of Bariatric surgery on improvement of migraine headaches in morbid obese patients.
Search Strategy: Scopus, PubMed and web of science electronic database were systematically searched with key words of “Bariatric surgery”, “gastric Bypass”; “Morbid Obesity” and “Migraine headache” for interventional studies investigated the impact of Bariatric surgery on migraine headache.
The findings suggest significant improvement in headache frequency, duration, migraine-induced discomfort and migraine derived symptoms (nausea, phono and photophobia and) occurs as early as 3 months after bariatric surgery. Moreover, patients who had higher weight loss were more likely to experience a 50% or higher reduction in headache frequency, duration and severity.
The entire evidences suggest patients with indications of bariatric surgery will benefit from the improvements in the Migraine headache after surgery. However, it remains unclear whether Bariatric-induced endocrine, gut-brain axis alterations, or reduction in adipokine contribute to migraine improvement, so further studies are needed to confirm and clarify these findings.