Trial reportTrials2017
Efficacy of gabapentin for prevention of postherpetic neuralgia: study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial.
Trial report in Trials, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of gabapentin and pregabalin for treatment of post refractive surgery pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International ophthalmology · 2024Pooled it
- γ-Aminobutyric Acid and Derivatives Reduce the Incidence of Acute Pain after Herpes Zoster - A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Current pharmaceutical design · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Cooling the burn: EMLA alone vs. paravertebral block plus EMLA for improving tolerability of 8% capsaicin patch application in thoracic postherpetic neuralgia-a retrospective cohort study.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Complications and Antiviral Strategies in Herpes Zoster: A Retrospective Evaluation of 50 Patients Treated in a Secondary Care Setting.Infection and drug resistance · 2025Article
- Article
- Acupuncture therapy for treating postherpetic neuralgia: A protocol for an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analysis.Medicine · 2020Article
- Ju Re Ba Du therapy for Postherpetic neuralgia: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.Medicine · 2020Article
- [S2k guideline for the diagnosis and therapy of zoster and post-zoster neuralgia].GMS infectious diseases · 2020Article
- Application and Therapeutic Effect of Puncturing of the Costal Transverse Process for Pulsed Radiofrequency Treated T1-T3 Herpes Zoster Neuralgia.Journal of pain research · 2020Article
- [Opportunistic infections by human herpes viruses].Der Internist · 2019Review
- The effectiveness of gabapentin and exercises in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized clinical trial.Journal of exercise rehabilitation · 2018Article
- Shingles in Pregnancy: An Elusive Case of Left Upper Quadrant Abdominal Pain.Hawai'i journal of medicine & public health : a journal of Asia Pacific Medicine & Public Health · 2018Article
- The analgesic effect of intravenous methylprednisolone on acute neuropathic pain with allodynia due to central cord syndrome: a retrospective study.Journal of pain research · 2018Article
- Herpes Zoster in the Older Adult.Infectious disease clinics of North America · 2017Review
- Role for the Ventral Posterior Medial/Posterior Lateral Thalamus and Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Affective/Motivation Pain Induced by Varicella Zoster Virus.Frontiers in integrative neuroscience · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPostherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a chronic neuropathic pain that results from alterations of the peripheral nervous system in areas affected by the herpes zoster virus. The symptoms include pain, paresthesia, dysesthesia, hyperalgesia, and allodynia. Despite the availability of pharmacological treatments to control these symptoms, no treatments are available to control the underlying pathophysiology responsible for this disabling condition. METHODS/
designPatients with herpes zoster who are at least 50 years old and have a pain score of 4 or higher on a visual analogue scale (VAS) will be recruited. The aim is to recruit 134 patients from the practices of general physicians. Participants will be randomized to receive gabapentin to a maximum of 1800 mg/day for 5 weeks or placebo. Both arms will receive 1000-mg caplets of valacyclovir three times daily for 7 days (initiated within 72 h of the onset of symptoms) and analgesics as needed. The primary outcome measure is the percentage of patients with a VAS pain score of 0 at 12 weeks from rash onset. The secondary outcomes measures are changes in quality of life (measured by the SF-12 questionnaire), sleep disturbance (measured by the Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale), and percentage of patients with neuropathic pain (measured by the Douleur Neuropathique in 4 Questions). DISCUSSION: Gabapentin is an anticonvulsant type of analgesic that could prevent the onset of PHN by its antihypersensitivity action in dorsal horn neurons.
trial registrationISRCTN Registry identifier: ISRCTN79871784 . Registered on 2 May 2013.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.