Herpes zoster presents as clustered blisters on one side of the body, accompanied by nerve pain. This is caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus, and it occurs primarily in people with weakened immunity. Tumor and chemotherapy drugs can impair the patient’s immune function, induce herpes zoster and prolong the course of disease.In these patients, skin changes can last for months and blisters can recur and cause serious complications such as postherpetic neuralgia.Acupuncture is a common alternative therapy for herpes zoster in East Asia.
We report a case of an elderly male patient with widespread herpes zoster in the trunk after non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma chemotherapy. The patient had received conventional treatment with valaciclovir and mecobalamin within 24 hours of symptom onset. Because neither the clustered blisters nor the nerve pain were improved a week later, acupuncture and related techniques were applied. These included electro-acupuncture, surrounding acupuncture, fire acupuncture, and cupping. The patient recovered 20 days after the herpes zoster attack, and there were no adverse reactions during the treatment process.
This case suggests that acupuncture and related techniques are effective interventions for this condition.This case report is innovative because it shows that acupuncture as an adjuvant treatment can improve the skin lesions in patients with HZ after tumour chemotherapy, relieve pain, and shorten the course of HZ.
Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Acupuncture for improving a case of widespread herpes zoster after non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma chemotherapy.
