{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]],"date-time":"2026-07-31T11:48:27Z","timestamp":1785498507670,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,28]],"date-time":"2022-11-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1669593600000},"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. Mol. Neurosci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Zoster-associated pain (ZAP) is notoriously difficult to treat. Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) and short-term nerve electrical stimulation (st-NES) have been proven effective treatments for ZAP. However, it is still unclear which technique provides improved analgesia in ZAP. This study is based on a large-scale, long-term follow-up to evaluate the efficacy and safety between st-NES and PRF.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>All eligible ZAP patients treated with st-NES or PRF in our department were enrolled. Cohorts were divided into the st-NES group and the PRF group. A 1:1 ratio propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance the baseline characteristics. The PS-matched cohort was adopted to investigate the efficacy and safety of the two treatments. The ordinal regression analysis was performed to determine the variables affecting the treatment effect of ZAP.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 226 patients were included after PSM. The numerical rating scale (NRS) scores in st-NES and PRF groups considerably reduced compared to baseline levels after treatment. The NRS scores in the st-NES group were obviously lower than those in the PRF group at discharge, 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. During the follow-up period, the NRS reduction rate remained higher in the st-NES group than in the PRF group (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.01). The dosage of medication, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score, and the number of patients with aggravated pain after discharge in the st-NES group were significantly less than in the PRF group after treatment.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Short-term nerve electrical stimulation has been shown to be more advantageous than PRF for pain relief and quality of life improvement for ZAP patients.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnmol.2022.1069058","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,28]],"date-time":"2022-11-28T05:15:30Z","timestamp":1669612530000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Propensity score matching comparing short-term nerve electrical stimulation to pulsed radiofrequency for herpes zoster-associated pain: A retrospective study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Liu","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wen-jing","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shu-xiang","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wen-shuai","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ran-ran","family":"Yan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiao-han","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shi-yao","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tao","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"245","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijom.2015.09.023","article-title":"Technical and surgical aspects of the sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) microstimulator insertion procedure.","volume":"45","author":"Assaf","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. 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