Effectiveness and impact of capsaicin 8% patch on quality of life in patients with lumbosacral pain: An open-label study

Background: capsaicin 8% patch (qutenza™) is mainly used to treat postherpetic neuralgia and hiv-associated neuropathy. evidence of the efficacy of qutenza in other forms of neuropathic pain is lacking. objective: to evaluate the analgesic effect and the impact on quality of life after a single application of the capsaicin 8% cutaneous patch in patients with lumbosacral pain. study design: prospective open-label study of capsaicin 8% patch in patients with lumbosacral pain. setting: outpatient pain and palliative care center. methods: all recruited patients were evaluated prior to capsaicin 8% patch administration and were followed-up at 2 weeks,at 8 weeks,and at 12 weeks post administration. visual analog scale (vas) was used to record pain intensity and eq-5d was used to assess the quality of life of the participants. results: ninety patients met our inclusion criteria (54.4% men,mean age 59.1 ± 9.2 years). at baseline the mean vas score of the participants was 7.6 ± 0.7. a statistically significant reduction of the vas score between baseline and week 2 (mean vas score 5.6 ± 1.1,p < 0.001) was observed. the therapeutic effect further continued between week 2 and week 8 (mean vas score 3.2 ± 1.2,p < 0.001) and between week 8 and at endpoint at week 12 (mean vas score 2.6 ± 1.1,p < 0.001). between baseline and weeks 2,8,and 12 (end-point) a significant improvement in all 5 dimensions of eq-5d (mobility,self-care,usual activities,pain/discomfort,and anxiety/ depression) was observed (p < 0.001) limitations: as it is an open-label study,a prospective randomized placebo-controlled study should be designed to confirm the effectiveness of capsaicin 8% patch in patients with lumbosacral pain. conclusions: administration of the capsaicin 8% patch resulted in a significant relief of neuropathic pain and a significant improvement of the quality of life of patients with lumbosacral neuropathic pain. © 2016,american society of interventional pain physicians. all rights reserved.