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  4. Herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia
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Why should you receive treatment
for pain in AMC?

Since its opening in 1994, AMC Pain Clinic treated more than 30,000 outpatients, and more than 1,500 patients referred from wards. Also, the clinic performed more than 5,000 interventional procedures per year. The clinic deals with cancer-related pain and neuropathic pain such as herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, fibromyalgia and complex regional pain syndrome as well as diverse joint diseases including muscular skeletal disease, spinal diseases, and degenerative arthritis.

The Pain Clinic plays a leading role in the treatment, research, and education of chronic pain and spinal disorders such as herniated intervertebral disc and spinal stenosis. The clinic has also developed the nerve block in the knee joint and balloon catheters for the first time in the world, providing various therapies for patients suffering from chronic pain.

Treatment options

Herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia

Herpes zoster is an acute infectious disease caused by the reactivation of chickenpox-herpes zoster virus. It is characterized by rash, hyperesophoria, hyperalgesia, and severe pain along the areas of dermatomes.

The condition that pain persists even after herpes zoster is cured is called postherpetic neuralgia, and it is a representative intractable chronic pain. The goal of herpes zoster treatment is to keep the initial infection from being expanded, reduce infection period, and prevent the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia.

As for acute herpes zoster, an antiviral agent is administered to block the reproduction and expansion of the virus. An antiseizure drug, an antidepressant drug, opioids, acetaminophen, and NSAID are also used to control acute and chronic pain effectively. To effectively alleviate pain and prevent the disease progression into chronic pain, a nerve block is performed together.

AMC Pain Clinic effectively treats the acute pain of herpes zoster and intractable pain of postherpetic neuralgia with sympathetic nerve block using ultrasonic waves and an image amplifier, transforaminal epidural block, truncal nerve block, and pulsed radiofrequency along with appropriate drug therapies.

AMC's treatment performance

  • More than 30,000 outpatients per year
  • More than 1,500 patients referred by wards per year
  • More than 5,000 interventional procedures per year