Shi Yi, Song Chunhong
Department of Neurology, Huai'an Hospital of Huai'an City, Huai'an, Jiangsu, China.
Br J Hosp Med (Lond). 2024 Dec 30;85(12):1-11. doi: 10.12968/hmed.2024.0485. Epub 2024 Dec 9.
Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a common chronic pain disease that persists after the rash (clusters of clear blisters on the surface of the skin) has healed, adversely affecting the quality of life of affected patients. Gabapentin (GPT) and pregabalin (PGB) are two commonly used drugs for the treatment of PHN, but there have been broad concerns regarding their efficacy and safety. Thus, this retrospective cohort study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness and safety of GPT versus PGB in the treatment of PHN. A total of 150 patients with PHN receiving routine antiviral and neurotrophic therapies, admitted between January 2022 and November 2023, were selected. 71 patients who were treated with GPT were included in the control group, while the remaining 79 patients who were given PGB were categorized in the observation group. Information on clinical effectiveness, safety (xerostomia, drowsiness, blurred vision, ataxia, and dizziness), analgesic effect (Visual Analogue Scale [VAS] and time to pain relief), sleep quality (Sleep Quality Scale [SQS] and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]), and adverse emotions (Self-rating Anxiety/Depression Scale [SAS/SDS]) was collected for analysis. Compared to the control group, the observation group exhibited significantly higher clinical effectiveness of PGB in the treatment of PHN ( < 0.05). In other aspects, the overall incidence of adverse events such as xerostomia, drowsiness, blurred vision, ataxia, and dizziness ( > 0.05) was equivalent in these two groups. In addition, significantly lower VAS, SQS, PSQI, SAS, and SDS scores were observed in the observation group after treatment, compared with the control group ( < 0.05). The observation group showed evidently shorter time to pain relief than the other group ( < 0.05). PGB is an effective and safe medication for the treatment of PHN, by improving the analgesic effect and sleep quality, and alleviating negative emotions.
带状疱疹后神经痛（PHN）是一种常见的慢性疼痛疾病，在皮疹（皮肤表面成簇的清亮水疱）愈合后仍持续存在，对受影响患者的生活质量产生不利影响。加巴喷丁（GPT）和普瑞巴林（PGB）是两种常用于治疗PHN的药物，但人们对它们的疗效和安全性存在广泛担忧。因此，本回顾性队列研究旨在调查GPT与PGB治疗PHN的有效性和安全性。选取了2022年1月至2023年11月期间收治的150例接受常规抗病毒和神经营养治疗的PHN患者。71例接受GPT治疗的患者纳入对照组，其余79例接受PGB治疗的患者归入观察组。收集有关临床疗效、安全性（口干、嗜睡、视力模糊、共济失调和头晕）、镇痛效果（视觉模拟评分法[VAS]和疼痛缓解时间）、睡眠质量（睡眠质量量表[SQS]和匹兹堡睡眠质量指数[PSQI]）以及不良情绪（自评焦虑/抑郁量表[SAS/SDS]）的信息进行分析。与对照组相比，观察组中PGB治疗PHN的临床疗效显著更高（<0.05）。在其他方面，这两组口干、嗜睡、视力模糊、共济失调和头晕等不良事件的总体发生率相当（>0.05）。此外，与对照组相比，治疗后观察组的VAS、SQS、PSQI、SAS和SDS评分显著更低（<0.05）。观察组的疼痛缓解时间明显短于另一组（<0.05）。PGB是一种治疗PHN的有效且安全的药物，可改善镇痛效果和睡眠质量，并减轻负面情绪。
