Clinical efficacy of LED golden light combined with acyclovir in the treatment of herpes zoster: a single-center prospective study.

This study aimed to explore the safety and clinical efficacy of light emitting diode (LED) golden light combined with acyclovir in treating herpes zoster (HZ). According to the random number table, 54 inpatients with HZ were divided into control group, golden-light group, and red-light group, with 18 cases in each group. The control group received acyclovir intravenous drip, while the patients in the red-light group received acyclovir intravenous drip and red-light LED phototherapy, and the golden-light group received acyclovir intravenous drip and golden-light LED phototherapy. Primary assessments included herpes stopping time, incrustation time, decrustation time, pain visual analog scale scores (VAS), and incidence of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) on the 30th and 90th days. Golden-light group and red-light group showed a shorter herpes stopping time, incrustation time, and decrustation time (P < 0.05) compared to the control group (P < 0.05), while the golden-light group showed a shorter incrustation time and decrustation time than the red light group (all P < 0.05). After treatment VAS scores, the golden-light group showed a significant improvement compared to the control group. The golden-light group showed a better PHN incidence than the control group at 30 days follow-up. Compared with the comprehensive curative effect, the total effective rates of the golden-light group, red-light group, and control group were 88.89%, 77.78%, and 72.22%, respectively, and the efficacy of the golden-light group was better than that of the control group and red-light group. Golden light combined with acyclovir can shorten the course of HZ, relieve pain, and reduce the occurrence of PHN, and the effect is better than that of the red-light group and the control group.