J Drugs Dermatol
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Post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) is primarily a disease of the elderly and often refractory to treatment. Randomized and controlled trials have yielded several significant advances in the treatment and prevention of this disease. Treatment advances include the lidocaine patch, opioid analgesics, nortriptyline, amitriptyline, and gabapentin. ⋯ But most adults have already had varicella and are at risk for HZ and PHN as they age. Therefore, a more potent vaccine against varicella has been developed for use in adults. This vaccine offers a new and significant advance in the prevention of HZ and its most noteworthy complication, PHN.
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Removal of subcutaneous skin masses and certain deep skin injuries results in defects, which demand immediate closure. Although primary closure of these defects in 2 layers is an acceptable solution, this technique has a number of drawbacks, such as extended time consumption upon performance, demand for additional suture material and occasional tissue response or foreign body reaction to retained absorbable stitches leading to infection and its sequelae. ⋯ This easily performed technique yields the benefits of reducing suture cost, annulling foreign body reaction, and resulting in both a functional and aesthetically pleasing outcome. The subcutaneous loop technique has become our standard closure of choice for wounds demanding simultaneous cutaneous and subcutaneous repair.