Plasma coblation versus radiofrequency thermocoagulation for post herpetic neuralgia

Plasma coblation may be preferred over radiofrequency thermocoagulation for post herpetic neuralgia because of its ability to provide long-lasting pain relief with reduced incidence of skin numbness, improving patient comfort and treatment outcomes.

This study aimed to compare clinical outcomes of low-temperature coblation to radiofrequency thermocoagulation (RFT) for treating post herpetic neuralgia (PHN).

Overall, 68 PHN patients underwent coblation, while 312 underwent RFT. A matched-cohort analysis was conducted based on demographic characteristics- age, gender, body weight, intensity of pain, time duration, affected side and thoracic region.

The Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI), Numeric pain-rating rating scale (NRS) and Medication Quantification Scale (MQS) were used to evaluate pain at different time points (6 months, 1 year and 2 years). For safety assessment, the level of numbness and any complications were also recorded.

A group of 59 patients who received successful coblation treatment was compared to another group of 59 patients who underwent RFT as a therapy for PHN. Follow-up assessments revealed significant decreases in NRS, MQS, and NPSI scores compared to their respective pre-operative values in both groups. Below Table 1 summarizes the outcomes between the coblation and RFT groups for treating PHN. The findings indicate that coblation results in lower pain levels than RFT when used to treat PHN.

Plasma coblation provided longer-lasting pain relief with less skin numbness compared to RFT.