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Granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor for recalcitrant postherpetic neuralgia: a prospective, open, pilot study in three patients

Recent experimental studies have shown that granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF) has neuroprotective and regenerative properties in neuronal cells, suggesting its use as a potential treatment for recalcitrant postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). We evaluated the efficacy and safety of G‐CSF in patients with recalcitrant PHN. Three patients with recalcitrant PHN were treated with subcutaneous injection of recombinant human G‐CSF 10 μg/kg once daily for 5 days. Assessments were performed at baseline and at weeks 1, 4, 8, 12 and 48 using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and the Clinician Global Impression (CGI) score. All patients found improvement in BPI and CGI scores throughout the study. We suggest that G‐CSF may help alleviate neuropathic pain and improve the overall quality of life in patients with PHN.