Published online May 26, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i15.3619
Peer-review started: January 29, 2023
First decision: February 28, 2023
Revised: March 27, 2023
Accepted: April 17, 2023
Article in press: April 17, 2023
Published online: May 26, 2023
Processing time: 116 Days and 2.2 Hours
Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is the most frequent and a difficult-to-treat complication of herpes zoster (HZ). Its symptoms include allodynia, hyperalgesia, burning, and an electric shock-like sensation stemming from the hyperexcitability of damaged neurons and varicella-zoster virus-mediated inflammatory tissue damage. HZ-related PHN has an incidence of 5%–30%, and in some patients, the pain is intolerable and can lead to insomnia or depression. In many cases, the pain is resistant to pain-relieving drugs, necessitating radical therapy.
We present the case of a patient with PHN whose pain was not cured by conventional treatments, such as analgesics, block injections, or Chinese medicines, but by bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) injection containing bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. BMAC has already been used for joint pains. However, this is the first report on its use for PHN treatment.
This report reveals that bone marrow extract can be a radical therapy for PHN.
Core Tip: To our knowledge, this is the first report of bone marrow aspirate concentrates (BMAC) curing post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). BMAC contains bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and other important cytokines and has favorable results in treating joint pain. PHN is difficult to cure, and conventional medicines do not work well in most cases. BMAC may serve as a radical treatment. The fact that BMAC was useful for the treatment of PHN indicates that BMAC can be applied for other pain-related conditions.