Abstract:Objective: To observe the clinical effect of infrared thermal imaging in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia. Methods: Eighty patients with postherpetic neuralgia were treated with ozone blockade of peripheral sensory nerve combined with routine comprehensive drug therapy of acyclovir and vitamin B12. At the same time, they were given acyclovir ointment for skin care of lesions. Before and after treatment, the local average temperature of infrared thermogram, VAS score and ODI score were collected, and the correlation between infrared thermogram temperature, VAS score and ODI score before and after treatment was evaluated. Results: Except that the average temperature of VAS, ODI and infrared thermogram did not improve in 5 older patients after routine comprehensive treatment, the curative effect of the remaining patients was significantly improved. Before treatment, VAS and ODI scores were correlated with the local mean temperature of infrared thermogram. Also, after treatment, there were significant positive correlations between VAS scores and average temperature of infrared thermal images, as well as between ODI scores and average temperature of infrared thermal images. Conclusion: The local average temperature of infrared thermogram can be used as an objective evaluation method for the clinical efficacy of patients with postherpetic neuralgia.