The effectiveness of pregabalin on patients with post-herpetic neuralgia

Objective To investigate the clinical effectiveness and safety of pregabalin in patients with post-herpetic neuralgia.Methods Eighty patients with PHN were randomly allocated into treatment group(n=40)and control group(n=40).The treatment group were given with pregabalin 150mg per day;The control group was treayed with carbamazepine orally 600mg per day.All the patients were quantified with visual analogue scale(VAS) for pain severity and Chinese version of Short Form-36 for living quality at the beginning of the study and 1 weeks,2 weeks,3 weeks and 4 weeks after treatment.Meanwhile,SF·MPQ,the continuous sleeping time and adverse drug reactions were compared both before and after treatment.Results After 4 weeks treatment with pregabalin or carbamazepine,the treatment group significantly improved pain,quality of life,and showed lower adverse reaction compare with controlled group(P0.05).Conclusion Pregabalin can significantly alleviate pain and the QOL of the patients with PHN.