• Ye Sull Kim, Ji-Seon Son, Hyungseok Lee, and A Ram Doo.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Jeonbuk National University Hospital and Medical School, Jeonju, South Korea.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2021 Oct 1; 100 (39): e27285e27285.

RationaleRamsay Hunt syndrome is a type of herpes zoster infection involving geniculate ganglion and facial nerve. Unilateral facial palsy, otalgia, and painful vesicular rash on the auricle and external auditory canal are the typical symptoms. Although postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a devastating complication of herpes zoster infection, PHN following Ramsay Hunt syndrome has rarely been reported.Patient ConcernsA 55-year-old immunocompetent female patient visited our pain clinic, for left-sided refractory otalgia (PHN) that persisted for 3 months after she was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome. Although facial palsy and tinnitus had recovered within 2 to 4 weeks after symptom onset, the patient had been experiencing a persistent and severe otalgia radiating to mandibular angle, temporal and upper cervical area of neuropathic nature.DiagnosesThe patient's pain persisted despite conservative medication and administration of ultrasound-guided stellate ganglion block, facial nerve block, and great auricular nerve block several times.InterventionsThe patient was treated with the application of ultrasound-guided pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) to the great auricular nerve.OutcomesThe patient experienced significant pain reduction more than 50% on a numeric rating scale after 2 weeks of PRF treatment.LessonsChronic otalgia might be a type of PHN after Ramsay Hunt syndrome with cervical nerve involvement. PRF treatment to the great auricular nerve can be a therapeutic option for refractory otalgia following Ramsay Hunt syndrome.Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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