• P-O Lang and N Ferahta.
• Service de gériatrie et de réadaptation gériatrique, centre hospitalier universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Mont Paisible 16 (MP16/04/414), Lausanne (1011), Suisse; Health and Wellbeing academy, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (CB1 1PT), Royaume-Uni. Electronic address: pierre-olivier.lang@chuve.ch.
• Rev Med Interne. 2016 Jan 1; 37 (1): 35-42.

AbstractInitiated within the first 72 hours of the rash, prescribing antiviral drugs reduces both acute neuralgia (AN) and later complications and especially postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). But their analgesic as well as preventative effect on AN and PHN is modest. Combination with analgesic drugs is more often needed for pain management. However, the pharmacological management of pain, in the context of old patients' frailty, co-morbidities and often polypharmacy, must be carefully considered. Based on analyses of the evidences from the literature, this review presents the therapeutic options we have at one's disposal and proposes a stepwise management for both AN and PHN specifically designed for aged population.Copyright © 2015 Société nationale française de médecine interne (SNFMI). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

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