Effect of 2% lidocaine continuous epidural infusion for thoracic or lumbar herpes-zoster-related pain

Few treatments are effective to manage herpes-zoster (HZ)-related pain. This retrospective study focused on the efficacy of 2% lidocaine continuous epidural infusion on pain control and quality of life in patients with thoracic or lumbar HZ. A total of 256 patients with thoracic or lumbar HZ were reviewed for this study. Patients included in the study were divided into continuous epidural infusion (70 mL 2% lidocaine + 180 mL 0.9% normal saline) and medical therapy group (group1) and only medical therapy group (group2). European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer and Izbicki pain score were used to evaluate the pain control and quality of life before therapy, and 6 and 9 months after therapy. For 256 patients with HZ (thoracic HZ = 162, lumbar HZ = 94), 53.1% was women. Mean ± standard deviation age was 69.4 ± 9.5 ( range, 38–85) years. Significant differences between the 2 groups in terms of quality of life and pain control were detected after 6 and 9 months follow-up (P 
Source: Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Tags: Research Article: Quality Improvement Study Source Type: research