The effect and safety of ozone autohemotherapy combined with pharmacological therapy in postherpetic neuralgia

INTRODUCTION: We investigated the effect and safety of ozone autohemotherapy combined with pharmacological therapy in postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). METHODS: Ninety-eight patients with PHN were enrolled in this study and randomly divided into a pharmacological therapy group and ozone autohemotherapy group (49 patients in each group). The PHN patients in the pharmacological therapy group were administered pharmacological therapy for 2 weeks, whereas PHN patients in the ozone autohemotherapy group were given ozone autohemotherapy (200 mL blood from patients, the concentration of medical ozone was set as 30 μg/mL using an ozone medical apparatus, 40 mL medical ozone was incubated in 200 mL autologous blood for 3–5 minutes) combined with pharmacological therapy for 2 weeks. The Visual Analog Scale (VAS), the 50% VAS reduction in the initial value, McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), the Patients’ Global Impression of Change (PGIC) scale, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) instrument were used to evaluate the outcomes of all PHN patients before therapy and at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after therapy. RESULTS: Forty-five patients in the pharmacological therapy group and 47 patients in the ozone autohemotherapy group completed the study. Compared with before therapy, the two groups showed significant improvements in VAS, MPQ, PGIC, and WHOQOL-BREF scores after therapy (P<0.05). Moreover, compared with the scores of the pharmacological therapy group, the ozone autohemotherapy group’s scores were significantly improved in the VAS, MPQ, PGIC, and WHOQOL-BREF as well as the 50% VAS reduction of the initial value after therapy (P<0.05). Finally, there were no statistically significant differences in adverse effects between groups after therapy (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that ozone autohemotherapy combined with pharmacological therapy was superior to isolated pharmacological therapy in patients with PHN and was an effective and safe way to relieve PHN.