Mohammad Amjad, Asher Ahmed Mashhood.
The efficacy of local infiltration of triamcinolone acetonide with lignocaine compared with lignocaine alone in the treatment of Postherpetic Neuralgia.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;15(11):683-5.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of local infiltration of corticosteroid with lignocaine compared to lignocaine alone in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia. Design: A randomized clinical trial. Place and Duration of Study: The Skin Department, Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from September 2002 to March 2003. Patients and Methods: Sixty patients were selected for the study. They were randomly assigned to two groups. Group-I received injection triamcinolone acetonide with lignocaine and group-II was given injection lignocaine alone. Three injections were given to each patient at fortnightly interval and pain relief was assessed by visual analogue scale at 6 and 12 weeks following the first injection. Results: Follow-up at 6 weeks showed complete pain relief in 63.3% (n=19) patients of group-I in comparison to 16.6% (n=5) of group-II. Chi-square value was 13.3 (p<0.001). At 12 weeks follow-up group-I showed further improvement with complete pain relief in 83.3% (n=25) whereas group-II showed diminishing response with cure rates falling to 6.6% (n=2). Chi-square value was 35.6 (p<0.001). Conclusion: Locally infiltrated injection triamcinolone acetonide with lignocaine was significantly more effective than injection lignocaine alone in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia both at 6 and 12 weeks follow-up.

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