• Tamara Ursini, Monica Tontodonati, Lamberto Manzoli, Ennio Polilli, Cristina Rebuzzi, Gabriele Congedo, Sonia Di Profio, Patrizia Marani Toro, Augusta Consorte, Giuseppina Placido, Stefano Laganà, Claudio D'Amario, Carla Granchelli, Giustino Parruti, Lucio Pippa, and VZV Pain Study Group.
• Infectious Diseases Unit, Pescara General Hospital, Pescara, Italy. parruti@tin.it
• Bmc Complem Altern M. 2011 Jan 1;11:46.

BackgroundData on the potential efficacy of acupuncture (AC) in controlling intense or very intense pain in patients with Herpes Zoster (HZ) has not been so far adequately assessed in comparison with standard pharmacological treatment (ST) by a controlled trial design.MethodsWithin the VZV Pescara study, pain was assessed in HZ patients on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and by the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) both at the beginning and at the end of treatment. Response rates, mean changes in pain intensity, differences in total pain burden with an area-under-the-curve (AUC) method over a 1-year follow-up and differences in the incidence of Post-Herpetic Neuralgia (PHN) were evaluated.ResultsOne hundred and two patients were randomized to receive either AC (n = 52) or ST (n = 50) for 4 weeks. Groups were comparable regarding age, sex, pain intensity at presentation and missed antiviral prescription. Both interventions were largely effective. No significant differences were observed in response rates (81.6% vs 89.2%, p = 0.8), mean reduction of VAS (4.1 +/- 2.3 vs 4.9 +/- 1.9, p = 0.12) and MPQ scores (1.3 +/- 0.9 vs 1.3 +/- 0.9, p = 0.9), incidence of PHN after 3 months (48.4% vs 46.8%, p = 0.5), and mean AUC during follow-up (199 +/- 136 vs 173 +/- 141, p = 0.4). No serious treatment-related adverse event was observed in both groups.ConclusionsThis controlled and randomized trial provides the first evidence of a potential role of AC for the treatment of acute herpetic pain.Trial RegistrationChiCTR-TRC-10001146.

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