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Lidocaine Patch Helps
with Diabetes Pain
posted 07/19/04
Skin patch helps with hand and foot
pain. As reported in the Archives of Neurology, Dr. Richard L. Barbano, from the
University of Rochester in New York, and colleagues tested the patch on 56
diabetic patients who had had nerve pain for longer than 3 months. A maximum of
four patches could be given each day for a total of 18 hours. Many of the
patients had allodynia, a condition in which pain is triggered by stimuli that
normally aren't painful.
During a 3-week treatment period, most of the patients experienced a dramatic
reduction in pain, the authors note.
Patients also reported an improved quality of life with treatment, according to
the team. Significant improvements were noted in sleep quality as well as in
various psychologic measures, such as depression and anger.
Also, "these benefits were maintained in a subgroup of patients treated for an
additional 5 weeks," during which time the dose of other pain medications could
be slowly decreased, the authors report. Moreover, pain relief and quality of
life improvements with the patch were comparable in patients with and without
allodynia.
Even when used four times a day, the patches were well tolerated without any
significant side effects.
Although promising, the findings need to be confirmed in a study in which some
patients are treated with the lidocaine patch, while others receive an inactive
"placebo" patch, the researchers emphasize.
Source: Diabetes In Control.com: Archives of Neurology, June 2004.
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