Abstract
Acute herpetic pain in the elderly and with trigeminal involvement is believed to become longer and be liable to progress into post-herpetic neuralgia. However, acute herpetic pain in the elderly even with trigeminal involvement disappears rapidly, when skin lesions of herpes zoster are mild. Analysis of 1, 431 patients for whom the treatment of acute herpetic pain was begun within 14 days after the onset revealed that the severity of skin lesions of herpes zoster at the worst phase rather than age and involved region most influenced the duration of acute herpetic pain. Elderly patients and those with trigeminal involvement showed significantly higher frequencies of severe skin lesions of herpes zoster. These findings indicate that acute herpetic pain in the elderly and involving trigeminal region becomes longer because of higher frequencies of severe herpes zoster in the elderly and trigeminal involvement and not because of “aging” or “trigeminal involvement” itself. Results of treatment of acute herpetic pain should be analyzed with respect to severity of skin lesions of herpes zoster.
