title: Topical acetylsalicylic acid versus lidocaine for postherpetic neuralgia: results of a double-blind comparative clinical trial.
abstract: A double-blind comparative clinical trial was performed with topical aspirin versus lidocaine for the treatment of 40 patients with postherpetic neuralgia. The percentage improvement following topical aspirin application was 72.2 +/- 19.9 S.D., while with lidocaine it was 72.8 +/- 25.3 S.D. These results suggest that the effect of topical treatment with aspirin is as good as that with lidocaine, since there was no significant difference (P = 0.778) between the two drugs in respect of pain reduction and accordingly the topical application of acetylsalicylic acid can be equally recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical University, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tajti
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Szok
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vécsei
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000700:Analgesics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001241:Aspirin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D008012:Lidocaine; D001241:Aspirin