NCT07361809

The Analgesic Efficacy and Safety of Desvenlafaxine in Patients With Herpes Zoster

The Analgesic Efficacy and Safety of Oral Medications (Desvenlafaxine) in Patients With Herpes Zoster

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 750 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Beijing Tiantan Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Herpes zoster (HZ) is characterized by a painful dermatomal rash and significantly affects quality of life, with acute pain increasing the risk of postherpetic neuralgia. Although early antiviral therapy limits viral replication, its analgesic effect is insufficient, and many patients experience inadequate relief despite stepwise use of non-opioids and opioids. Recent attention has focused on the potential role of antidepressants, which have central antinociceptive property and may offer analgesic benefits by modulating central nervous system pain pathways through increased serotonin and norepinephrine availability. Therefore, investigators hypothesize that desvenlafaxine may effectively reduce the severity of HZ pain without significantly increasing adverse events.

Conditions

• Herpes Zoster
• Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Desvenlafaxine combined conventional therapy	In the desvenlafaxine combined conventional therapy group, venlafaxine will be initiated at 50 mg daily. The maximum recommended dose is 400 mg daily. In addition, the group will contain conventional treatment for HZ, except desvenlafaxine, including NSAIDs, opioids, antiviral drugs and so on.
DRUG	Conventional therapy	In the conventional therapy group, treatments will include NSAIDs, opioids, antiviral drugs and so on.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-12-15
• Primary completion: 2027-09-30
• Completion: 2027-12-31
• First posted: 2026-01-23
• Last updated: 2026-01-23

Locations

1 site across 1 country: China