title: Analgesic effects of flecainide on postherpetic neuralgia.
abstract: Sodium channel blockers have been reported to be effective in relieving neuropathic pain. However, although intravenous lidocaine has proved to be effective, in some patients oral mexiletine fails to produce adequate pain relief. In this study, we investigated the analgesic effect of flecainide, a long-lasting antitachyarrhythmic drug, on postherpetic neuralgia. Twenty patients with postherpetic neuralgia received an intravenous infusion of flecainide and 15 (75%) of those who achieved pain relief subsequently received oral flecainide. The patients were assessed using a 100 mm visual analog scale 1 month after treatment. Significant improvement compared with the pretreatment reading was found. This study suggests that the action of flecainide in blocking the sodium channel is potent and long-lasting and that, like the intravenous formulation, the oral formulation has a stable analgesic effect on postherpetic neuralgia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Oita Medical University, Oita-gun, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ichimata
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikebe
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshitake
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iwasaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Noguchi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005424:Flecainide / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers; D005424:Flecainide