Therapeutic effect of combined glucocorticoids on herpes zoster of the head and face in the elderly

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effect of combined glucocorticoids on herpes zoster of the head and face in the elderly aged ≥ 60 years. Methods From June 2013 to June 2017, 76 patients with herpes zoster of the head and face were enrolled from the Department of Dermatology of Changshu No.1 People′s Hospital, and randomly and equally divided into glucocorticoid group and conventional treatment group by drawing lots. The patients in the 2 groups were all treated with intravenous penciclovir (0.25 g, twice a day) for 7 days, intravenous mecobalamine (1 ml, once a day) for 7 days, and topical penciclovir cream four times every day, and the patients in the glucocorticoid group were additionally treated with intravenous methylprednisolone sodium succinate (40 mg, once a day) for 5 days. The time to skin lesion improvement and pain relief, incidence of postherpetic neuralgia and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results The time to skin lesion improvement was shorter in the glucocorticoid group than in the conventional treatment group (P 0.05) . Seven days after the treatment, the NRS score was significantly lower in the glucocorticoid group than in the conventional treatment group (P 0.05) . The incidence rate of postherpetic neuralgia was very low in the 2 groups with no significant difference between them (χ2=0.347, P > 0.05) . The 2 groups both showed infrequent and mild adverse reactions. Conclusion Combined glucocorticoids showed marked therapeutic effect and good safety for herpes zoster of the head and face in the elderly. Key words: Herpes zoster; Glucocorticoids; Treatment outcome; Antiviral agents; Comparative effectiveness research