Effect of Press Needle Acupuncture Treatment on Postherpetic Neuralgia: A Retrospective Study
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Postherpetic neuralgia is a common complication following herpes zoster infection. Most patients experience severe pain and need multiple pain control medications including other alternative treatments such as acupuncture. This study aimed to determine the effect of press needle acupuncture treatment on pain intensity. The data from medical records of 190 patients with postherpetic neuralgia who had received press needle acupuncture treatment in Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital were collected. Baseline pain visual analogue scale (VAS) was 7.2 ± 2.1 After ten sessions of press needle acupuncture treatments pain VAS significantly reduced to 2.1 ± 2.4 (p < 0.001). No serious complications from press needle acupuncture were found in this study, except for only two cases of plaster contact dermatitis. Thus, the use of press needle acupuncture may be an alternative treatment in postherpetic neuralgia.
Article Details
References
HelgasonS,Petursson G, GudmundssonS,Sigurdsson JA. Prevalence of postherpetic neuralgia after a first
episode of herpes zoster: prospective study with long term follow up.BMJ. 2000;321:794-6.
JungBF,JohnsonRW, Griffin DR, DworkinRH.Riskfactors for postherpetic neuralgia in patients with herpes zoster. Neurology. 2004;62:1545-51.
JohnsonRW,Rice ASC,Postherpeticneuralgia. N Engl J Med. 2014;371:1526-33.
Volpi A, Gatti A,PicaF,BellinoS, MarsellaLT,Sabato AF. Clinicalandpsychosocialcorrelatesofpost-herpetic
neuralgia. J Med Virol. 2008;80:1646-52.
Drolet M,Brisson M,SchmaderKE,Levin MJ, Johnson R, Oxman MN,Patrick D, Blanchette C, Mansi JA.The
impact of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia on health-relatedqualityof life:aprospectivestudy. CMAJ.
;182:1731-6.
AlperBS,LewisPR.Treatment ofpostherpeticneuralgia: a systematic review of the literature. J Fam Pract.
;51(2):121-8.
Volmink J, Lancaster T, Gray S, Silagy C.Treatments for postherpetic neuralgia-asystematic review of randomized controlled trials. Fam Pract. 1996;13:84-91.
Tontodonati M, Ursini T, Polilli E, Vadini F, Masi FD, Volpone D,Parruti G.Post-herpeticneuralgia. IntJ Gen
Med. 2012;5:861-71.
Avijgan M, Hajzargarbashi ST, Kamran A, Avijgan M. Postherpeticneuralgia:practical experiences returnto Traditional Chinese Medicine. J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2017;10:157-64.
HuiF, Cheng A, Chiu M, Vayda E. Integrative approach to the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia: acaseseries. Altern MedRev. 1999;4:429-35.
Buranathawornsom T, Piyaman S, Nirojsamabat S, Jariangprasert J, Wanichanon S, Anothayanon S, editors. Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Nonthaburi: Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine. Ministry of Public Health; 2015. (inThai).
Ding XY. Intradermal needle therapy and its application in treating gastric diseases. J Acupunct Tuina Sci. 2012;10:120-4.
Feng W, Liao T, Zhao Y. Needle-embedding therapy for fifty cases of post-herpetic neuralgia. WorldJ Acupunct-Moxibustion. 2015;25:51–4.
Zhang R, Lao L, Ren K, Berman BM. Mechanisms of acupuncture-electroacupuncture on persistent pain.
Anesthesiology. 2014;120:482-503.
Tsumaki M, Saita Y, Ikeda H, Kaneko K, Yukishita T, Lee K, Kim S, Yokota S, Suetake N, Kobayas H. Effect
of enpishin (press tack acupuncture needles) on autonomic function, WBC count and oxidative stress.Health. 2011;3:437-43.
Ernst E,Lee MS, Choi TY. Acupuncture: does it alleviate pain and are there serious risks? A review of reviews. Pain. 2011;152(4):755-64.
Johnson SR, Tomlinson GA, Hawker GA, Granton JT, Feldman BM. Propensity score methods for bias reductionin observational studies of treatment effect. Rheum Dis Clin N Am. 2018;44:203-13.
Kyriacou DN, Lewis RJ. Confounding by indication in clinical research. JAMA. 2016;316(17):1818-9.