Electroacupuncture Therapy for Treating Postherpetic Neuralgia

Summary

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) has a high incidence rate and severely impact on quality of life and health care costs, interfering with physical, emotional and social functioning of affected patients. Current therapeutic options for PHN mainly include analgetic and local anaesthesia for selective nerve blockade. Nevertheless, the efficacy of analgetic is always limited by inevitable side effects, in which patients have poor compliance. Moreover, for some most suffering patients, the control of pain is often unsatisfactory despite the administration of complex combinations. As a non-pharmarceutical therapy, acupuncture is widely use for a wide range of pain conditions. Thus, it might be an alternative treatment for PHN. The aim of this multicenter randomized controlled trial is to investigate the efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture therapy in patients with postherpetic neuralgia.

Timeline

Start

2020-11-11

Primary completion

2021-12-31

Completion

2021-12-31

Publications

• Background Saguil A, Kane S, Mercado M, Lauters R. Herpes Zoster and Postherpetic Neuralgia: Prevention and Management. Am Fam Physician. 2017 Nov 15;96(10):656-663.
• Background Johnson RW, Rice AS. Clinical practice. Postherpetic neuralgia. N Engl J Med. 2014 Oct 16;371(16):1526-33. doi: 10.1056/NEJMcp1403062. No abstract available.
• Background Forbes HJ, Thomas SL, Smeeth L, Clayton T, Farmer R, Bhaskaran K, Langan SM. A systematic review and meta-analysis of risk factors for postherpetic neuralgia. Pain. 2016 Jan;157(1):30-54. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000307.
• Background Lin CS, Lin YC, Lao HC, Chen CC. Interventional Treatments for Postherpetic Neuralgia: A Systematic Review. Pain Physician. 2019 May;22(3):209-228.
• Background Wang Y, Li W, Peng W, Zhou J, Liu Z. Acupuncture for postherpetic neuralgia: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2018 Aug;97(34):e11986. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000011986.
• Background Avijgan M, Hajzargarbashi ST, Kamran A, Avijgan M. Postherpetic Neuralgia: Practical Experiences Return to Traditional Chinese Medicine. J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2017 Jun;10(3):157-164. doi: 10.1016/j.jams.2017.02.003. Epub 2017 Feb 28.
• Background Ruengwongroj P, Muengtaweepongsa S, Patumanond J, Phinyo P. Effectiveness of press needle treatment and electroacupuncture in patients with postherpetic neuralgia: A matched propensity score analysis. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2020 Aug;40:101202. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2020.101202. Epub 2020 May 25.
• Background Zhang Y, Liang Z, Li S, Yang L, Guo T, Xu Y, Yang J, Xu Q, Zhang Q, Zhao J, Li C, Liu X. Fire needle plus cupping for acute herpes zoster: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2020 Aug 6;21(1):701. doi: 10.1186/s13063-020-04599-2.
• Background Wang L, Qiu L, Zheng X, Ouyang J, Zhang M, He L, Zeng S, Liu B, Peng J. Effectiveness of electroacupuncture at Jiaji acupoints (EX-B2), plus moxibustion and intermediate on postherpetic neuralgia: a randomized controlled trial. J Tradit Chin Med. 2020 Feb;40(1):121-127.
• Background Pei W, Zeng J, Lu L, Lin G, Ruan J. Is acupuncture an effective postherpetic neuralgia treatment? A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Pain Res. 2019 Jul 16;12:2155-2165. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S199950. eCollection 2019.
• Background Liu K, Zeng J, Pei W, Chen S, Luo Z, Lu L, Lin G. Assessing the reporting quality in randomized controlled trials of acupuncture for postherpetic neuralgia using the CONSORT statement and STRICTA guidelines. J Pain Res. 2019 Jul 29;12:2359-2370. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S210471. eCollection 2019.
• Hu H, Shen Y, Li X, Tian H, Li X, Li Y, Cheng Y, Wu L, Han D. Efficacy of Electroacupuncture Therapy in Patients With Postherpetic Neuralgia: Study Protocol for a Multicentre, Randomized, Controlled, Assessor-Blinded Trial. Front Med (Lausanne). 2021 May 21;8:624797. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.624797. eCollection 2021.

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