{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,30]],"date-time":"2025-07-30T16:07:11Z","timestamp":1753891631940,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,6]],"date-time":"2025-01-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1736121600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Neurol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a type of refractory neuropathic pain that causes significant suffering, disability, economic loss, and medical burden. In this study, we aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of interferon (IFN)-\u03b11b injection into the intervertebral foramen of patients with PHN.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Patients and methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This is a study protocol for a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled multicenter clinical trial. A total of 200 participants with PHN from 11 hospitals will be recruited and randomly assigned to the treatment group administered with IFN-\u03b11b and control group treated with placebo in a 1:1 ratio. Both groups will also receive oral pregabalin 150 mg twice daily and lidocaine injection into the intervertebral foramen as conventional therapy. This trial will involve a screening period, a 2-week intervention, and a 3-month follow-up. The primary outcomes will include the visual analog scale score and duration of pain relief. The secondary outcomes will include the 36-item short-form, dosage and duration of painkillers taken, viral load of varicella-zoster virus DNA, humoral cytokine level, and dosage and frequency of rescue medication. All adverse events and severe adverse events will be assessed during the study.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study is expected to provide evidence for the efficacy and safety of IFN-\u03b11b injection into the intervertebral foramen in patients with PHN.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Clinical trial registration<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:ext-link>https:\/\/www.chictr.org.cn\/indexEN.html<\/jats:ext-link>, identifier ChiCTR240008996.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fneur.2024.1516262","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,6]],"date-time":"2025-01-06T05:22:04Z","timestamp":1736140924000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Efficacy and safety of interferon-alpha 1b injection into the intervertebral foramen with ultrasonic guidance in patients with postherpetic neuralgia: study protocol for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Hui-Min","family":"Hu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wen-Hui","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chen","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qing","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chun-Hua","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"An-Xiang","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yi-Fan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yi","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peng","family":"Mao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bi-Fa","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"192","DOI":"10.3390\/v14020192","article-title":"Herpes 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