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Postherpetic Neuralgia Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy. 2011;25:187–189. Copyright © 2011 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. ISSN: 1536-0288 print / 1536-0539 online DOI: 10.3109/15360288.2010.550990 PATIENT EDUCATION AND SELF-ADVOCACY: QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES ON PAIN MANAGEMENT Edited by Yvette Colon´ Postherpetic Neuralgia Naileshni Singh ABSTRACT Questions from patients about analgesic pharmacotherapy and responses from authors are presented to help educate patients and make them more effective self-advocates. The topic addressed in this issue is postherpetic neuralgia, symptoms, risk factors, and treatment. KEYWORDS acyclovir, capsaicin, corticosteroids, herpes zoster, lidocaine, neuropathic analgesics, posther- petic neuralgia, shingles, varicella-zoster QUESTION FROM A PATIENT tion and the chronic pain syndrome of postherpetic neuralgia. In their youth, many people have had I had shingles earlier in the year and thought I re- chicken pox, which is caused by the same virus, covered well, but I still have a lot of pain. My doctor called varicella-zoster. After this first infection, it is calls it postherpetic neuralgia. What are the best treat- thought that the virus lies within the sensory nerves For personal use only. ments for it and how can I get rid of the pain? I’m 57 in the spinal cord. With older age or in patients with years old and in fairly good health otherwise. poor immune systems, the virus can often “reacti- vate” and cause a rash accompanied by pain. The pain may subside, but in certain instances, individ- Answer uals may develop persistent pain that can last for sev- Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) can be an unfortunate eral years. result of herpes zoster infection (shingles). The resid- It is thought that once the virus is reactivated, ual pain following the acute infection is termed pos- it causes degeneration and loss of the sensory therpetic neuralgia and often presents as one-sided nerves in the spinal cord. This can cause tingling, neuropathic (nerve) pain affecting thoracic areas of hypersensitivity to light touch, unprovoked stabbing the body (chest, back) (1). The acute phase of the or shooting sensations, inability to wear clothing J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Dr. Yvette Colon on 09/27/11 disease should be treated immediately with antiviral over the affected areas, vision changes, numbness, agents. The prolonged painful state of PHN can be weakness, and itching. The pattern is usually in the treated with steroids, neuropathic analgesics, topical distribution of a dermatome, which is the area of skin drugs, opioids, and a variety of other treatments (2). supplied by a particular nerve that becomes affected Millions of adults throughout the world annu- by zoster. A dermatome, for example, might extend ally are affected by the acute herpes zoster infec- from the midline of the back and around to the front of the body in a band-like pattern (3). The time frame of herpes zoster infection is called Naileshni S. Singh, MD, is a Pain Management Fellow, Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Pain Medicine, University of California Davis “acute” if the pain and rash exist for less than 30 days Medical Center, Sacramento, California, USA. and called postherpetic neuralgia if the pain is per- Address correspondence to: Dr. Naileshni S. Singh, Division of Pain Medicine, sistent beyond the 30 to 90 days of normal healing. UC Davis Medical Center, Lawrence J. Ellison Ambulatory Care Cen- ter, 4860 Y Street, Suite 3020, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA (E-mail: The pain is most often one-sided and located in the [email protected]). thoracic area. The second most common area to be 187 188 N. Singh affected is the face, particularly the area around the impulses from one neuron to the next. Not only is eyes. But zoster infections with long standing pain can this class of medications useful in PHN, they are occur in the limbs, abdomen, buttock areas, and even simple once-a-day dosing and relatively inexpensive. involve internal organs. But side effects from this class of medications should Risk factors for PHN include older age (with age be monitored, especially in older adults. Most side greater than 80 years old having a higher incidence), effects—drowsiness, nausea, constipation, increased immunosuppression (such as in cancer patients), fe- heart rate, sweating, blurred vision, weakness—are male gender, greater pain during the acute rash phase, minor, but abnormal heart rhythms, low blood pres- and increased severity of the rash. People under- sure when standing, seizures, inability to urinate, going chemotherapy can often have reactivation of mood changes, and confusion are also possible. Pa- the latent virus because their immune system is un- tients taking such medications should be assessed fre- able to suppress the disease. Elders are a subpopula- quently for any of the aforementioned side effects.2 tion who have less cellular-mediated immunity than Another class of medications is the traditionally younger people and so are more susceptible to vi- mild antiseizure medications, gabapentin and prega- ral infections. Vaccination to reduce the risk of shin- balin. These agents are helpful for the neuropathic gles and its associated pain in people 60 years old component of the pain experience, such as “electric,” or older has been recommended by the U.S. Cen- “shooting,” or “burning” pain. Both these medica- ters for Disease Control and Prevention and many tions, however, can cause dizziness, drowsiness, gas- others (4, 5). trointestinal upset, headache, fatigue, swelling, fluid Patients who have shingles rash or pain should retention, and mood changes and like all other med- see their primary care doctors early, within 72 hours ications should be used carefully. of rash development, for treatment.4 The treatment Opioids such as hydrocodone, morphine, and oxy- for acute herpes zoster infection is an antiviral agent codone have long been used in both the acute and the such as acyclovir, valacyclovir, famciclovir, or a newer chronic sequelae of herpetic infection. They work on drug called brivudin. Early treatment with a multiday opioid receptors in the spinal cord, brain, and tissues course of antiviral medications has shown to decrease to relieve pain. The more common side effects are the acute pain episode, help with healing, stop skin drowsiness, constipation, nausea, and itching. More lesion formation, and decrease the viral shedding po- serious complications include possible drug interac- tentially to stop the destruction of nerves. This is es- tions, prolonged action in individuals with kidney dis- pecially important in patients with zoster ophthalmi- ease, and depressed breathing.2 Their dosing, how- For personal use only. cus, herpes zoster that affects the optic nerve that is ever, can be flexible because they are available in both responsible for eye sight. Early treatment can prevent short-acting and long-acting formulations. complications such as vision loss. It is unclear, how- Several topical agents have been approved for use ever, whether early antiviral treatment in the acute in postherpetic neuralgia. One is the lidocaine patch, phase of herpes zoster infection prevents the devel- which is embedded with a local anesthetic. Patients opment of PHN. apply the patch to the painful areas for 12 hours and There is evidence that corticosteroids such as pred- then take if off for 12 hours to prevent tolerance. The nisone taken orally within 72 hours of rash develop- treatment is relatively benign, but can cause local skin ment may significantly reduce the acute pain phase. irritation. Lidocaine also comes in ointment or cream Sometimes steroids are combined with antiviral treat- form in a variety of strengths. Capsaicin is another ment to further help with healing and pain con- cream used to alleviate nerve type pain. Moreover, trol. There is no proven sustained benefit, however, 8% capsaicin patches have recently been approved for J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Dr. Yvette Colon on 09/27/11 of either steroid alone or in combination with an- use in PHN. The patches must be applied by a health tiviral medications for the chronic phase of zoster care professional in an office, procedure area, or other infection. monitored setting. The patches are applied to the ar- Many other medications have been studied in the eas of sensitivity and are allowed to work for approxi- treatment of PHN that seek to target the nerves mately 30 minutes with secure skin contact. The sen- thought to cause the pain. One of the most studied sation from the patch can be unpleasant so patients drug categories has been the tricyclic antidepressants receive sedation and pain control for the procedure (TCAs) such as amitriptyline, nortriptyline, and de- itself. When application of the patch has concluded, sipramine. They have been shown to be effective in the skin can look sunburned or irritated. Pain relief, decreasing the pain when early treatment is started. however, can last up to 3 months and tolerance is The mechanism of action is the release of neurotrans- not an issue. Both the lidocaine and capsaicin patches mitters, such as norepinephrine, which pass nerve can be cut and formed to adhere to the affected areas Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy 189 of the skin. But although patients may use lidocaine acute phase of the disease, but it is unclear whether patches daily, the application of the capsaicin patch is that prevents the incidence of PHN. There is strong a more involved treatment done every few months. scientific evidence that TCAs, gabapentin, prega- Novel and invasive treatments are also being stud- balin, capsaicin, lidocaine patches, and opioids are ied for use in PHN. Botulinum toxin has been in- helpful in PHN. jected into the skin layers in patients with a variety of nerve type disorders including PHN, but the studies REFERENCES show mixed results.
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