Electroacupuncture Therapy for Treating Postherpetic Neuralgia

Efficacy of Electroacupuncture Therapy in Patients With Postherpetic Neuralgia: a Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial

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.

This randomized controlled trial will enroll 132 patients with postherpetic neuralgia. All patients will be randomly assigned to either the EA combined with medication group or the medication group via a computerized central randomization system in a 1:1 ratio. Primary outcomes will be change in sensory thresholds and pain intensity. Secondary outcomes will be change in dosage of analgetic, quality of life, anxiety and depression severity and sleep quality.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients have a medical history of herpes zoster;
2. Skin lesion has healed in the region of herpes zoster, but the duration of postherpetic neuralgia persist for more than 30 days.
3. 20 ≤ age ≤80 years, male or female
4. Participants can fully understand the study protocol and written informed consent is signed.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Acute herpes zoster, herpes zoster has not disappeared;
2. Herpes zoster belongs to a special type, such as ophthalmic herpes zoster, auricular herpes zoster, HZ that involves internal organs, meningeal herpes zoster, and disseminated herpes zoster.
3. Pregnant or lactating women;
4. Patients have severe complications in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, liver, kidney, hematopoietic and other systems,or have malignant tumor, mental illness, immune deficiency, hemorrhagic disorders and other diseases;
5. Patients have severe cognitive impairment and can not understand the study protocol;
6. Patients can not receive electroacupuncture treatment due to any reasons.