Efficacy of hypodermic nerve block in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia

Objective To observe the effects of hypodermic nerve block in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia. Methods Eighty-nine patients with postherpetic neuralgia received hypodermic nerve block in the skin pain area with compound betamethasone and lidocaine. Follow-up at five days after the block, whether to continue treatment and times of treatment were decided according to the VAS. The curative effect of patients in different courses and diseased areas were compared after half a year, and the influence of complicating diseases on the curative effect were observed. Results Half a year after the treatment, the excellent, good, effective efficacy and ineffective rate were 65.1% (58/89 cases) , 21.3% (19/89 cases) , 13.4% (12/89 cases) , 0% (0/89 cases) respectively, and the total effective rate was 100%. There were no statistical difference in the curative effect in different duration and different areas (P>0.05) . The curative effect with 2-3 treatment times was better than that with one time (P 0.05) . Conclusion Hypodermic nerve block with compound betamethasone and lidocaine is an effective method in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia. Key words: Neuralgia, postherpetic; Musculocutaneous nerve; Nerve block; Drug combinations; Betamethasone