Objective To explore the efficacy of IFN-α2b combined with isotonic glucose in the treatment of acute herpes zoster and its effects on serum inflammatory factors.

Methods A total of 88 patients with acute herpes zoster in the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from September 2019 to December 2022 were selected perspectively and randomly divided into the group IFN (n=44) and the group C (n=44). All patients received basic drug treatment and paravertebral nerve block. Patients in group C were treated with traditional analgesic solution (lidocaine, mecobalamin and compound betamethasone diluted with normal saline), and patients in group IFN were treated with IFN-α2b diluted with 5% glucose on the basis of traditional analgesic solution. Visual analogue scale (VAS) score, immunoglobulin M (IgM), immunoglobulin A (IgA), interferon (IL)-17, IL-10, C-reactive protein (CRP), effective rate and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups.

Results Compared with before treatment, the VAS scores in both groups decreased after treatment (P < 0.05), and the VAS scores in group IFN were lower than those in group C at 2, 4, 8, 12 weeks after treatment (P < 0.05). Compared with group C, serum IL-17 and CRP decreased (P < 0.001) and IL-10, IgM and IgA increased (P < 0.001) in group IFN after treatment. Effective rate in group IFN was higher than that in group C (95.45% vs 79.55%, P=0.024) and there was no significant difference in adverse reactions between the two groups.

Conclusions The effects of IFN-α2b combined with isotonic glucose nerve block on relieving pain and improving the level of serum inflammatory factors are better than traditional analgesic solution in patients with acute herpes zoster.