Abstract
A combination of amitriptyline and valproate has been shown to be an effective treatment for postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). We treated six cases of neuropathic pain successfully with these two drugs. There were five cases of herpes zoster and PHN and one case of arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO), in which obstruction of grafting might have caused nerve damage. Epidural block, sympathetic ganglion block and linear polarized near infrared ray irradiation near the stellate ganglion showed effects to some extent on the neuropathic pain in all cases. Concomitant use of amitriptyline and valproate gave almost complete pain relief in all the cases while only amitriptyline did not give effective pain relief. In five herpetic patients pain completely disappeared, so the treatment of drugs was stopped. In all six cases valproate seemed to act on neuropathic pain in a different way from amitriptyline.
