Treatment of sympathetically maintained pain with terazosin.
OBJECTIVE
alpha-adrenergic antagonists can be effective in the treatment of sympathetically maintained pain.


METHODS
Oral terazosin was prescribed to treat sympathetically maintained pain refractory to other therapies.


RESULTS
The authors describe a patient whose symptoms could not be controlled with commonly prescribed therapies, who obtained total relief of sympathetically maintained pain and vasospasm with terazosin, a new alpha 1 antagonist.


CONCLUSIONS
Terazosin is effective in the treatment of sympathetically maintained pain when given once daily because of a long elimination half-time and a long duration of action. This may encourage better patient compliance than do other alpha antagonists of shorter effective duration.
Stevens
D S
DS
Department of Anesthesiology, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester 01655.
Robins
V F
VF
Price
H M
HM
D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011224:Prazosin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*
D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists; C041226:Terazosin; D011224:Prazosin