Clinical study of CT-guided pulsed radiofrequency combined with platelet-rich plasma in treatment of postherpetic neuralgia

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of CT-guided pulsed radiofrequency combined with platelet-rich plasma （PRP） in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia. Methods Sixty patients with postherpetic neuralgia were divided into the pulsed radiofrequency plusglucocorticoid group （glucocorticoid group） and pulsed radiofrequency plus PRP group （PRP group） using the random number table method， with 30 patients in each group. The pain visual analogue score （VAS）， Pittsburgh sleep quality index （PSQI）， the average temperature difference （∆T） between the skin lesion area and the corresponding healthy skin area of all patients in two groups were observed before treatment， 1 d， 2 weeks， 4 weeks and 3 months after treatment， respectively. The incidence of complications was also recorded. Results The VAS score and PSQI at 1 d， 2 weeks， 4 weeks and 3 months after treatment were significantly improved compared to those before treatment in two groups （all P < 0.05）. In addition， the ∆T at 4 weeks and 3 months after treatment were significantly improved than those before treatment in two groups （all P < 0.05）. At 3 months after treatment， the VAS score and PSQI in the PRP group were significantly lower than those in the glucocorticoid group （both P < 0.05）. At 1 day， 2 weeks， 4 weeks and 3 months after treatment， the ∆T in the PRP group were significantly lower than those in the glucocorticoid group （all P < 0.05）. No severe adverse reactions occurred in two groups. Conclusions CT-guided pulsed radiofrequency combined with PRP can effectively treat postherpetic neuralgia， and the therapeutic effect is better than that of traditional pulsed radiofrequency combined with glucocorticoid therapy.