Objective  To investigate the effect of intradermal injection of compound betamethasone in pain area on post-herpetic neuralgia in thoracic and dorsal regions.

  Methods  A prospective study was conducted for 140 herpes zoster cases with post-herpetic neuralgia treated in our hospital. The included patients were randomly divided into control group(n=70) and observation group(n=70). The control group received intradermal injection of dexamethasone plus nerve block, as well as oral administration of gabapentin, while the observation group was given intradermal injection of compound betamethasone plus nerve block, and oral administration of gabapentin. The treatment of both groups lasted for 8 weeks. After the first intradermal injection, tramadol sustained-release tablets (100 mg) were administered every 12 hours for patients in both groups, and dosages of medicine was adjusted according to the pain condition, and the longest administration course was one week. The therapeutic effect, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores before and after treatment, the dosage of tramadol sustained-release tablets, the quality of sleep (QS) score before and after treatment and the adverse reactions were observed and compared between the two groups.

  Results  The total effective rate of the observation group was significantly better than that of the control group (98.57% vs. 75.71%, P < 0.05). The VAS scores between the two groups before treatment showed no significant difference(P>0.05), it was significantly declined after treatment than before treatment in two groups, and the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). The dosage of tramadol sustained-release tabletsin the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group (698.50±96.50) mg vs. (1 289.50±169.50) mg, P < 0.05. There were no significant differences in adverse reactions between the two groups (P>0.05).

  Conclusion  Patients with intradermal injection of compound betamethasone in pain area have more significant efficacy than those with dexamethasone in the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia in thoracic and dorsal regions.