ArticlePatient preference and adherence2013
Influence of anatomic location of lidocaine patch 5% on effectiveness and tolerability for postherpetic neuralgia.
Article in Patient preference and adherence, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Topical analgesics for neuropathic pain: an evidence-informed guide for the practicing clinician.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2026Review
- 5% Lidocaine Medicated Plaster for the Treatment of Postherpetic Neuralgia: A Review of the Clinical Safety and Tolerability.Pain and therapy · 2015Article
- Topical analgesics for neuropathic pain in the elderly: current and future prospects.Drugs & aging · 2014Review
- Trigeminal Neuralgia.Asian journal of neurosurgeryReview
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeLidocaine patch 5% is recommended as a first-line therapy for postherpetic neuralgia pain in neuropathic pain guidelines. Postherpetic neuralgia can occur anywhere on the body but often follows acute herpes zoster occurring in trigeminal and brachial plexus dermatomes. An analysis was conducted to determine whether the anatomic location of lidocaine patch 5% is associated with variations in effectiveness or tolerability in patients with postherpetic neuralgia.
methodsThis was a post hoc analysis by anatomic site of patch placement (head [including neck], trunk [chest, abdomen, back, hips], and extremities [arm, leg]) of a 4-week, multicenter, open-label study that enrolled patients with persistent pain following herpes zoster infection. Effectiveness was measured by Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) average pain intensity (0 [no pain] to 10 [worst imaginable pain]) and the BPI subscale for pain relief (0% [no relief] to 100% [complete relief]). Tolerability was assessed on the basis of patient-reported adverse events.
resultsOf 332 enrolled patients (59.6% women [n = 198]; 92.5% white [n = 307]; mean [standard deviation] age, 71.2 [13.9] years), those (n = 203) who applied lidocaine patch 5% to a single anatomic site only and had baseline and postbaseline pain score data were analyzed (trunk, n = 130; head, n = 41; extremities, n = 32). The frequency of adverse events differed significantly by anatomic location, with significantly more adverse events reported with patch placement on the head versus the extremities (P = 0.006) or trunk (P = 0.02). BPI average pain improved significantly from baseline in each of the three anatomic areas (mean score decrease, 1.50-2.04; P ≤ 0.002), with no significant difference in effectiveness by patch location.
conclusionLidocaine 5% patch was effective and generally well tolerated for each anatomic area evaluated, although application to the head was tolerated less well compared with the trunk and extremities.
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