Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jul 1999
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialComparative therapeutic evaluation of intrathecal versus epidural methylprednisolone for long-term analgesia in patients with intractable postherpetic neuralgia.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The goal of this study was to evaluate the analgesic effects of intrathecal versus epidural methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) in patients with intractable postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). ⋯ Our results suggest the effectiveness of intrathecal as compared to epidural MPA for relieving the pain and allodynia associated with PHN. Also, our findings, together with the decrease in IL-8, may indicate that intrathecal MPA improves analgesia by decreasing an ongoing inflammatory reaction in the CSF.