Airplane travel headache: a case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Although the patients who admit to the emergency departments because of headache constitute approximately 22.5% of the admissions to emergency departments and emergency physicians are familiar with this group of patients. Although most of the headache problems encountered in emergency services are usually primary headache syndromes, life threatening causes should always be considered and proper diagnostic modalities should be used. In the present case report, we report a headache secondary to the altitude and pressure changes during a flight which is a rare cause of secondary headache.