. 2020 Dec 14;48(12):0300060520977416. doi: 10.1177/0300060520977416

Table 1.

Characteristics of the included studies.

Autdor, Year	Study Design	Mean Age (years)	Female (%)	Duration of PHN	Pain Intensity	Body Area	Follow-up	Pain Scale
Ashok, 2016²²	Double-blind RCT	60.17	43.30	>3 months	VAS ≥30 mm	T3–T11	8 weeks	VAS
Dan, 2018¹⁷	RCT	67	–	>1 month	–	Cervical or thoracolumbar	12 hours	VAS
Dong, 2017¹⁹	Single-blind RCT	69.98	69.70	>3 months	–	Abdominal and thoracic back	48 hours	VAS
Gang, 2013²³	RCT	66.93	52.04	1 month–3 months	NRS ≥4	–	4 weeks	NRS
Guo, 2013²⁴	RCT	57.06	47.06	>1 month	–	–	4 weeks	VAS
Ji, 2012²⁵	RCT	63.5	40	–	–	Chest and back	8 weeks	VAS
Lizu, 2010²⁶	Double-blind RCT	67.33	53.33	>3 months	VAS ≥5	Orofacial, cervical and upper extremity, lumbar and lower extremity	3 months	VAS
Ma, 2013²⁰	Double-blind RCT	72.16	50.00	≥6 months	VAS >30 mm	T2–T11	6 months	VAS
Mohamed, 2018²¹	Double-blind RCT	58.74	44.19	>6 months	VAS >30 mm	T2–T11	1 year	VAS
Wang, 2012¹⁸	RCT	67.2	44.23	>3 months	VAS >6	Thoracic and back	12 weeks	VAS
Xia, 2018¹⁶	RCT	66.47	50.0	4 months–3 years	–	Abdominal and thoracic area	12 weeks	NRS
Zoe, 2013²⁷	Double-blind RCT	75.35	40%	≥3 months	VAS ≥7	Thoracic, sciatic, brachial plexus	20 weeks	VAS
Autdor, Year	Evaluation time point	Basic Drugs	N	Groups, n	Dose	Route	Adverse events related to interventional treatment
Ashok, 2016²²	Basic, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks	Pregabalin; tramadol as rescue	60	PRF, 30; sham, 30	42°, 180 s; -	Intercostal	2 local site reactions; 2 local site reactions
Dan, 2018¹⁷	Basic, 12 hours after treatment	Gabapentin; tramadol	60	Conventional puncture, 15; NB, 15; PRF, 15; PRF+NB, 15	-; mecobalamin 1 mg/mL, extract from rabbit skin inflamed by vaccinia virus for injection 6 mL, 1% ropivacaine 2 mL; 0.9% normal saline 11 mL; 42°, 100 s × 3; PRF followed by NB	Paravertebral	None
Dong, 2017¹⁹	Basic, 48 hours after treatment	Pregabalin; diclofenac; cobamamide	32	Control, 18; PRF + NB + SC, 15	-; 42°, 120 s × 2 + 5 mL (lidocaine + ropivacaine + betamethasone + cobamamide + NS)	DRG+SC	-
Gang, 2013²³	Basic, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks	Gabapentin or pregabalin	98	MeB12 injection, 33; oral MeB12, 33; SC lidocaine injection, 32	1 mg MeB12; 0.5 mg MeB12 t.i.d.; 1% lidocaine	SC; oral; SC	-
Guo, 2013²⁴	Basic, 4 weeks	Gabapentin, ibuprofen codeine, Vitb12	80	SC + oral MeB12, 20; SC + IM MeB12, 19; paravertebral block + SC, 20; paravertebral block + O3 injection + SC, 21;	Ropivacaine 10 mg + betamethasone 1 mg + NS 20 mL; ropivacaine 10 mg+ betamethasone 1 mg + NS 20 mL; Ropivacaine 10 mg + betamethasone 1 mg + NS 20 mL; ropivacaine 10 mg + betamethasone 1 mg + NS 20 mL + O3 35 μg/mL	SC; SC; paravertebral; paravertebral	-
Ji, 2012²⁵	Basic, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks	Pregabalin, celecoxib as rescue	120	SGB, 40; Pregabalin, 40; SGB + pregabalin, 40	0.5% lidocaine 10 mL; -; 0.5% lidocaine 10 mL	SGB	1 hoarseness, 1 hematoma; -; 2 hoarseness, 1 hematoma
Lizu, 2010²⁶	Basic, 1 day, 7 days, 3 months	Opioid as rescue	60	BTX-A, 20; Lidocaine, 20; placebo, 20	5 IU/mL (100 IU in total) BTX-A; 0.5% lidocaine; NS	SC	None
Ma, 2013²⁰	Basic, 3 days, 1 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months	Gabapentin; antidepressants; tramadol	92	PRF, 46; sham, 46	42°, 120 s × 2; -	Intercostal	1 bradycardia; 1 needle injury
Mohamed, 2018²¹	Basic, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks, 14 weeks, 16 weeks, 18 weeks, 20 weeks, 22 weeks, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months	Pregabalin; acetaminophen as rescue	43	PRF, 21; sham, 22	42°, 120 s × 2; -	Intercostal	None
Wang, 2012¹⁸	Basic, 1 weeks, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks	Pregabalin	52	Thoracic paravertebral nerve block, 27; only drug, 25	0.3% lidocaine 10 mL + triamcinolone 10 mg; -	Paravertebral	None
Xia, 2018¹⁶	Basic, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks	Gabapentin	60	Acupuncture trigger point, 20; continuous epidural nerve block, 20; selective DRG PRF, 20	-; 2 mL/hour (ropivacaine 225 mg + betamethasone + cobamamide + NS); 42° 10 minutes with an interval of 15 s	-; epidural; DRG	-
Zoe, 2013²⁷	Basic, every day in the first 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 20 weeks, 24 weeks	Paracetamol	30	BTX-A, 15; NS, 15	100 IU + 4 mL NS; 4 mL NS only	SC; SC	None

RCT, random controlled trial; PRF, pulsed radiofrequency; NB, nerve block; SC, subcutaneous injection or local infiltration; O3, ozone injection; SGB, stellate ganglion block; BTX-A, botulinum toxin type A; DRG, dorsal root ganglion; NS, normal saline; T, thoracic nerve; VAS, visual analog scale; NRS, numerical rating scale; IM, intramuscular; t.i.d., three times daily; -, data not available from the original article.