Risk Factors for Poor Pain Control in Zoster-Associated Pain: A Retrospective Study

INTRODUCTION: The objective was to investigate the risk factors for poor pain control in patients with herpes zoster (HZ)-associated neuropathic pain treated with drugs combined with nerve block therapy. Neuropathic pain commonly follows HZ. Nerve block therapy is the most commonly used clinical treatment for such pain, combining anti-inflammation and analgesia to prevent peripheral sensitization of nerve. METHODS: Using clinical practice data from a cohort study at our research center, we established a multivariate logistic regression model to investigate potential risk factors for poor control of zoster-associated pain (ZAP) treated with drugs plus nerve block therapy, including demographic characteristics, complications, laboratory tests, and characteristics of HZ attacks. RESULTS: Of the 429 patients with ZAP who received drugs plus nerve block therapy, 95 (22.14%) had poor pain control after treatment. The risk of poor pain control was closely related to presence of cancer (odds ratio (OR) 4.173, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.342–12.970), numerical rating scale score on admission (OR 1.929, 95% CI 1.528–2.434), and red blood cell count (OR 0.560, 95% CI 0.328–0.954). Area under the receiver operator characteristic curve was 0.730. Goodness of fit (Hosmer–Lemeshow) was 0.874. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of poor pain control in patients with ZAP increased as a result of certain patient characteristics and complications, especially severe pain before treatment and cancer.