The Analgesic Efficacy and Safety of Desvenlafaxine in Patients With Herpes Zoster

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Desvenlafaxine combined conventional therapy: In the desvenlafaxine combined conventional therapy group, venlafaxine will be initiated at 50 mg daily. The maximum recommended dose is 400 mg daily. In addition, the group will contain conventional treatment for HZ, except desvenlafaxine, including NSAIDs, opioids, antiviral drugs and so on.

Conventional therapy: In the conventional therapy group, treatments will include NSAIDs, opioids, antiviral drugs and so on.

Study summary

Herpes zoster (HZ) is characterized by a painful dermatomal rash and significantly affects quality of life, with acute pain increasing the risk of postherpetic neuralgia. Although early antiviral therapy limits viral replication, its analgesic effect is insufficient, and many patients experience inadequate relief despite stepwise use of non-opioids and opioids. Recent attention has focused on the potential role of antidepressants, which have central antinociceptive property and may offer analgesic benefits by modulating central nervous system pain pathways through increased serotonin and norepinephrine availability. Therefore, investigators hypothesize that desvenlafaxine may effectively reduce the severity of HZ pain without significantly increasing adverse events.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• the average numeric rating scale score over the past 24 hours, rated each morning upon awakening and average over 7 days. — At week 4 after experimental drug medication
  The numeric rating scale (NRS) score is a way to quantify the degree of subjective feelings such as pain using numbers. Generally, 0 represents no pain, and 10 represents the most severe pain. A higher score indicates more severe pain.

Trial sites (1)

More Beijing Tiantan Hospital trials in China

Other trials for the same condition