Introduction:Postherpetic neuralgia(PHN)is a painful condition that occurs after herpes zoster skin lesions have subsided and that lasts for more than 1 month.PHN is usually difficult to treat.Case presentation:Patien...Introduction:Postherpetic neuralgia(PHN)is a painful condition that occurs after herpes zoster skin lesions have subsided and that lasts for more than 1 month.PHN is usually difficult to treat.Case presentation:Patient 1 was a 54-year-old woman who had PHN for 35 days.Patient 2 was a 74-year-old woman who had PHN for 65 days.Both patients were treated with an epidural block and found to have spinal metastasis from a malignant tumor.Discussion:The routinely used dermatological medications for the treatment of herpes zoster and PHN have slow and unsatisfactory analgesic effects.Epidural block treatment provides a new approach for patients who cannot tolerate or do not respond to these commonly used drugs.Physicians should pay special attention to patients who have a history of a malignant tumor or are suspected to have spinal disease.Computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging of the spine is recommended for such patients,and epidural block treatment should be performed after a spinal tumor or other lesions have been excluded.Conclusion:Epidural block treatment provides a new approach for patients of herpes zoster or PHN,but the treatment should be performed after a spinal tumor or other spinal lesions have been excluded.展开更多
基金funded by the National Natural Science Fund of China(No.81872216)the PUMC Postgraduate Education and Teaching Reform Project in 2018(No.10023201801701).
文摘Introduction:Postherpetic neuralgia(PHN)is a painful condition that occurs after herpes zoster skin lesions have subsided and that lasts for more than 1 month.PHN is usually difficult to treat.Case presentation:Patient 1 was a 54-year-old woman who had PHN for 35 days.Patient 2 was a 74-year-old woman who had PHN for 65 days.Both patients were treated with an epidural block and found to have spinal metastasis from a malignant tumor.Discussion:The routinely used dermatological medications for the treatment of herpes zoster and PHN have slow and unsatisfactory analgesic effects.Epidural block treatment provides a new approach for patients who cannot tolerate or do not respond to these commonly used drugs.Physicians should pay special attention to patients who have a history of a malignant tumor or are suspected to have spinal disease.Computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging of the spine is recommended for such patients,and epidural block treatment should be performed after a spinal tumor or other lesions have been excluded.Conclusion:Epidural block treatment provides a new approach for patients of herpes zoster or PHN,but the treatment should be performed after a spinal tumor or other spinal lesions have been excluded.
