Abstract
Selective nerve root block has been known as a useful therapeutic measure for pain associated with herpes zoster. In this study we examined the correlation between the characteristics of pain and the efficacy of selective nerve root block by questionnaire sent to 40 patients who were treated with selective nerve root block using local anesthetic and betamethasone. Selective nerve root block was more effective in the patients whose pain was paroxysmal or shooting in its nature compared to those who had continuous and dull pain. Besides the characteristics of pain, the interval between the onset of the disease and block seemed to be a determinant of efficacy of block, the efficacy being better in the patients with an interval less than 3 months. However, neither the degree of sensory disturbance, age, nor degree of skin eruption showed correlation with the efficacy of block. Almost all the patients who exhibited final pain relief, reported that the characteristics of pain had been changed shortly after block. Change of characteristics of paroxysmal-shooting pain, rather than the reduction of the area and intensity of dull and continuous pain, seems to be a good predictor of eventual satisfaction of the patients.
