J Korean Med Sci.  2002 Oct;17(5):655-659. 10.3346/jkms.2002.17.5.655.

Prognostic Factors of Postherpetic Neuralgia

• Herr H

• KMID: 1127258
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2002.17.5.655

Abstract

The investigation was aimed to determine prognostic factors related to postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), and treatment options for preventing PHN. The data showed 34 (17.0%) out of 188 patients with herpes zoster had severe pain after 4 weeks, and 22 (11.7%) after 8 weeks, compared with 109 (58.0%) at presentation. The age (>or=50 yr), surface area involved (>or=9%), and duration of severe pain (>or=4 weeks) might be the main factors that lead to PHN. On the other hand, gender, dermatomal distribution, accompanied systemic conditions, and interval between initial pain and initiation of treatment might not be implicated in PHN. The subjects were orally received antiviral (valacyclovir), tricyclic antidepressant (amitriptyline), and analgesic (ibuprofen) as the standard treatment in the group 1. In addition to the standard medication, lidocaine solution was sub- and/or perilesionally injected in the group 2, while lidocaine plus prilocaine cream was topically applied to the skin lesions in the group 3. The rates of PHN in the 3 treatment groups were not significantly different, suggesting adjuvant anesthetics may not be helpful to reduce the severity of pain.

Keyword

Herpes Zoster; Pain; Neuralgia; Prognosis

MeSH Terms

Acyclovir/administration & dosage/*analogs & derivatives
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Amitriptyline/administration & dosage
Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/administration & dosage
Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic/administration & dosage
Antiviral Agents/administration & dosage
Child
Drug Therapy, Combination
Female
Herpes Zoster/*complications/drug therapy/physiopathology
Humans
Ibuprofen/administration & dosage
Male
Middle Aged
Neuralgia/drug therapy/*etiology/physiopathology/prevention & control
Prognosis
Time Factors
Valine/administration & dosage/*analogs & derivatives