The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine:
October 5, 2013
Objective: Bee venom has been reported to have antinociceptive
and anti-inflammatory effects in experimental studies. However, questions still
remain regarding the clinical use of bee venom. This report describes the
successful outcome of bee venom treatment for refractory postherpetic
neuralgia.
Patient: A 72-year-old Korean man had severe pain and
hypersensitivity in the region where he had developed a herpes zoster rash 2
years earlier. He was treated with antivirals, painkillers, steroids, and
analgesic patches, all to no effect.
Intervention: The patient visited the East-West Pain Clinic,
Kyung Hee University Medical Center, to receive collaborative treatment. After
being evaluated for bee venom compatibility, he was treated with bee venom
injections. A 1:30,000 diluted solution of bee venom was injected subcutaneously
along the margins of the rash once per week for 4 weeks.
Results: Pain levels were evaluated before every treatment,
and by his fifth visit, his pain had decreased from 8 to 2 on a 10-point
numerical rating scale. He experienced no adverse effects, and this improvement
was maintained at the 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year phone follow-up evaluations.
Conclusion: Bee venom treatment demonstrates the potential
to become an effective treatment for postherpetic neuralgia. Further
large-sample clinical trials should be conducted to evaluate the overall safety
and efficacy of this treatment.
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