Selective dorsal root ganglion pulsed radiofrequency lesioning combined with gabapentin in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia: The unanswered questions

Abstract

Huang et al. in their article “Clinical observations on selective dorsal root ganglion pulsed radiofrequency lesioning combined with gabapentin in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia” attempt to address the lacunae in the effective treatment of a very common yet painfully disabling condition that tends to affect an elderly subset of the population. Common clinical practice for dosing of neuromodulating medications is to reach a maximal daily dose (3600 mg/day of gabapentin in this case) or a maximum tolerable dose, as limited by the side effects of the medication. [...]the reader is left without the ability to infer a dose dependent effect of gabapentin and the unanswered question about whether or not the observed results of the use of selective dorsal root ganglion pulsed radiofrequency lesioning would vary in patients taking lower or higher doses of this neuromodulating agent.