Pediatric Headache Referral Guide
Headaches in children are a common concern of the patients and families you see in clinic. This document aims to provide guidance on how we triage patients into our clinics for headache management.
General Neurology Clinic
- Concern for secondary headache syndromes
- Headaches in medically complex children
ARNP Specialty Headache Clinic
- Chronic headaches
- Healthy school age children and teens
Multidisciplinary Headache Clinic (MDHC)
- Focuses on holistic, mind-body patient-centered care
- Held on the 4th Friday morning of the month with a maximum of 2 patients per month
- Patients see a provider, dietitian, and physical therapist (3-4 hour appointment for the first visit only, follow up appointments are with the provider only and schedule at a date and time of the family’s preference)
- Also available are the assistance of a social worker, nurse and pharmacist
Urgent Add-On Appointments
- At times, our new patient appointment wait times can be up to several months out. Therefore, if you have concerns that your patient has headaches requiring more urgent evaluation (non-life-threatening or emergent) such as idiopathic intracranial hypertension, we ask that you triage your patient through the on-call neurology team via the page operator during business hours at 319-356-1616, and we will be happy to work with you to care for your patient.
Due to limited provider availability, the following patients may be deferred:
- Children with occasional headaches/migraines that are managed by over the counter medications or triptans
- Children who have not tried any prescription abortive medications (triptans)
For headache referrals, please fax the appropriate medical records to the Division of Pediatric Neurology at 319-384-8818.
Resources for managing pediatric headaches at the primary care level:
First Contact – Headache in Primary Care:
Migraine and Headache Info for Clinicians: https://americanheadachesociety.org/primarycare/
- For primary care practitioners, access to helpful, accurate and timely information is essential to identifying and treating headache disorders, including migraine.
- The goal of First Contact – Headache in Primary Care, powered by the American Headache Society, is to provide educational resources to empower healthcare professionals and improve headache and migraine care for their patients.
- Family physicians, internists, OBGYNs, pediatricians, PAs, NPs, and other allied healthcare providers can browse a variety of free resources on topics like:
- Diagnosing Migraine
- Acute and Preventive Migraine Treatment Options
- Pediatric Migraine
- Migraine, Pregnancy, & Lactation
All resources are curated by leaders in headache medicine. We encourage providers in all stages of their careers to utilize our programming and educational tools to improve patient care and develop expertise in the field of headache medicine.
The International Classification of Headache Disorders – ICHD-3:
A comprehensive listing of diagnostic criteria for headaches: ichd-3.org/
Migraine at School:
Resources for students, parents and teachers to help advocate for children with migraines in a school setting: www.migraineatschool.org/
Child Neurology Foundation Headache Page:
A great resource for families: www.childneurologyfoundation.org/disorder/headache/