Abstract: Objective To determine the trajectory of post-craniotomy headache symptoms in patients with brain tumors treated with craniotomy. Methods A longitudinal study design was used to assess postoperative headache symptoms using the visual analogue scale(VAS)score at the 7th day, the first month, the third month postoperatively in patients who were diagnosed with brain tumors and hospitalized in the Shandong Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical Univerisity from March to June 2023. The higher VAS scores indicated more severe headache symptoms. Changes in VAS scores over time and possible underlying categories were determined using Latent Growth Curve Models as well as Growth Mixture Modeling. Results The VAS scores of 304 patients with brain tumors who completed a complete 3-month follow-up were analyzed and found to be decreased during the three follow-up measurements and the trend existed in three different categories. The plus group and the stable group accounted for 1.3% and 19.0%, and the remission group accounted for 79.6%. Conclusion There are individual differences in the development of post-craniotomy headache in patients with brain tumors and there are three types of headache symptom trajectories. Understanding the developmental trajectory of post-craniotomy headache symptoms can help clinics to regulate post-craniotomy headache more scientifically.

Key words: Brain tumor, Headache, Craniotomy, Trajectory, Growth mixture modeling