Methods	2-phase study Phase one: multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design. Single dose to treat each of 2 successive migraine attacks Medication administered when migraine headache pain was of moderate or severe intensity Assessments at 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 h after initial dosing Second dose of study medication (identical to first dose) available to treat recurrence between 2 and 24 h Rescue medication (except ergotamine) available if initial treatment not effective within 2h Phase 2: open-label phase
Participants	Aged 18 to 65 years, meeting IHS criteria for migraine (1988) with or without aura. History of 1 to 6 moderate or severe migraine attacks per month Participants were excluded if they had previous experience with subcutaneous sumatriptan No ergotamine in the 24-h period before taking study medication or within 6 h afterwards N = 118 treated ≥ 1 attack (108 treated both attacks) M 12, F 106 (90%) Mean age 43 years Proportion with/without aura not reported
Interventions	Sumatriptan 6 mg, n = 117 attacks Placebo, n = 109 attacks
Outcomes	Headache relief (at 1 and 2 h) Pain-free (at 1 h) Use of rescue medication Adverse events Withdrawals
Notes	Oxford Quality Score: R1, DB1, W1. Total = 3.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors’ judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not reported
Study size	Unclear risk	Number in each treatment arm for first attack not reported