• Ngoc Quan Phan, Dorothee Siepmann, Ingrid Gralow, and Sonja Ständer.
• Competence Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pruritus, Clinic and Polyclinic for Skin Diseases, University Hospital of Münster, Germany. sonja.staender@uni-muenster.de
• J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2010 Feb 1;8(2):88-91.

BackgroundPostherpetic neuralgia is a frequent adverse event in herpes zoster patients and difficult to treat. Conventional analgetic therapy often fails to reduce the burning pain transmitted by unmyelinated nerve fibers. These nerves express cannabinoid receptors which exert a role in modulation of nociceptive symptoms. Therefore, topical therapy with cannabinoid receptor agonist seems likely to suppress local burning pain.Patients And MethodsIn an open-labeled trial, 8 patients with facial postherpetic neuralgia received a cream containing the cannabinoid receptor agonist N-palmitoylethanolamine. The course of symptoms was scored with the visual analog scale.Results5 of 8 patients (62.5 %) experienced a mean pain reduction of 87.8 %. Therapy was tolerated by all patients. No unpleasant sensations or adverse events occurred.ConclusionsTopical cannabinoid receptor agonists are an effective and well-tolerated adjuvant therapy option in postherpetic neuralgia.

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