Antiviral treatment and postherpetic neuralgia.

Treatment of postherpetic neuralgia.

Herpes zoster, a commonly seen condition in daily medical practice, is reported to occur in 10–20% of the population at some time during the lifespan. Chronic, intractable postherpetic neuralgia, a sequela of herpes zoster, presents a clinical challenge. In recent years, effective antiviral agents that can be used in the outpatient setting have been developed for the treatment of herpes zoster ...

Postherpetic Neuralgia and Trigeminal Neuralgia

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is an unpredictable complication of varicella zoster virus- (VZV-) induced herpes zoster (HZ) which often occurs in elderly and immunocompromised persons and which can induce psychosocial dysfunction and can negatively impact on quality of life. Preventive options for PHN include vaccination of high-risk persons against HZ, early use of antiviral agents, and robust ...

Treatment and prevention of postherpetic neuralgia.

There have been 4 recent major advances in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) that are based on the results of randomized, controlled trials. These advances are the demonstrations that gabapentin, the lidocaine patch 5%, and opioid analgesics are efficacious in patients with PHN, and the report that nortriptyline and amitriptyline provide equivalent analgesic benefits for patients wi...

[Treatment of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia].

Herpes zoster, a biphasic disease with different kinds of pain is a challenge for pain therapy. The acute illness with mixed pain (nociceptive - neuropathic) requires antivirals for risk patients and pain treatment according to rules of acute pain therapy. For treatment of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) an example of neuropathic pain, antidepressants, anticonvulsants and topical lidocaine are tod...

Postherpetic neuralgia.