Charles Roberts^*, Leonard Morgan, Kanisha Hall, Prashant Kumar, Stacy J. Smith

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Department of Anesthesiology and Interventional Pain.
LSU Health Science Center School of Medicine, Shreveport, LA, USA.
LSU Health Science Center School of Medicine.
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Abstract: Off label use of Quetenza? (capsaicin 8%) patch in relieving post-thoracotomy neuropathic pain proved temporarily effective, but to a degree indicating limited usefulness in a clinical setting.A 57 year-old male with chronic post-thoracotomy pain was treated with 8% capsaicin topically. Pre-procedure pain was rated as 8 on a 10 point scale, the 30 minute post procedure pain was reported as 2 - 3 on a 10 point scale. Neuralgia was completely resolved for the initial 48 hours post-procedure, then returned gradually over the next 5 days. Because pain transmission pathways are the same in post herpetic and post traumatic neuralgias, the use of 8% capsaicin merits additional study.

Keywords: Post-thoracotomy Neuralgia; Capsaicin; Qutenza®

Cite this paper: C. Roberts, L. Morgan, K. Hall, P. Kumar and S. Smith, "A Case Study in the Use of Capsaicin in the Treatment of Neuropathic Chest Wall Pain and Post-thoracotomy Intercostal Neuralgia," Open Journal of Anesthesiology, Vol. 2 No. 4, 2012, pp. 99-101. doi: 10.4236/ojanes.2012.24023.

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