Treatment of Chronic Postherpetic Pain With Autologous Fat Grafting - A RCT

Herpes Zoster (HZ), is a condition caused by Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV), The disease is caused by reactivation of a latent VZV-infection in the sensory ganglia. Clinically the condition is characterized by a painful, unilateral, vesicular rash. Pain is the most prominent symptom in around 90% of patients. In 10% of patients, this pain remains and becomes chronic. Post-herpetic neuralgia is a chronic pain syndrome that occurs after the dermal manifestation disappears. Treatment is complex and mainly topical or systemic. For many patients, this is not sufficient and they live with constant pain. Autologous fat grafting has shown promise in treating several different painful conditions such as post-mastectomy pain syndrome, painful scars, etc. Our previous pilot study (NCT03584061) investigating the effect of autologous fat grafting on PHN, showed a marked reduction in pain with half of the patients being pain-free after the procedure. The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that autologous fat grafting is more effective than a sham operation in treating PHN.