Abstract: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a kind of neuropathic pain, which often brings huge physical and mental burden to patients and seriously affects the social function and quality of life. At present, there are various analgesic schemes for the treatment of PHN, and antidepressants have been recognized as first-line medications for treatment. The effectiveness of tricyclic antidepressants in treating PHN has been verified, while serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors need further validation. The update of antidepressants in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia is summarized in this paper. We propose combination therapy in order to improve analgesic effect and reduce the dose of monotherapy and adverse reactions.

Key words: antidepressants, postherpetic neuralgia, combination therapy