ABSTRACT
Excellent outcomes were achieved with spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for 7 to 10 days on 2 patients who developed postherpetic neuralgia. Both patients were within 2 to 3 months of the onset of the condition, and nerve blocks provided only temporary pain relief and drug therapies had poor efficacy. The authors believe that limited-duration SCS for subacute postherpetic neuralgia is a useful treatment approach that may prevent the pain from progressing to chronic postherpetic neuralgia.
Peripheral and central sensitisation of the nervous system through prolonged pain is commonly believed to be a mechanism responsible for facilitating the development of chronic pain. This suggests the importance of suppressing the sensitisation at the earliest possible stages of the pain process.1 From this perspective, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) therapy may effectively prevent establishment of chronic pain
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