Zheng S, et al. - Researchers evaluated the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided cervical nerve root block (CRB) on acute pain. Further, they determined its preventive effects on post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) in patients with cervical herpes zoster (HZ). They randomized 140 recruiters 1:1 to receive ultrasound-guided CRB with either mixed drug liquid (treatment group) or similar looking placebo (placebo group). A 7-day course of oral antivirals treatment, pregabalin, and analgesics as needed were provided to all patients. The treatment group displayed significantly less incidence of PHN at 90 days than at 180 days. Better improvement in quality of life (QoL) and a greater decrease in analgesic use were evident in the treatment group as compared to the placebo group. These findings suggest that to reduce the burden of illness due to acute HZ in the cervical dermatome region, ultrasound-guided CRB is an early intervention and preventive strategy. This strategy might be feasible to reduce the incidence of PHN.