Frontiers in Neurology (Sep 2022)

Case report: Significant relief of linezolid-induced peripheral neuropathy in a pre-XDR-TB case after acupuncture treatment

  • Yuping Mo,
  • Zhu Zhu,
  • Jie Tan,
  • Zhilin Liang,
  • Jiahui Wu,
  • Xingcheng Chen,
  • Ming Hu,
  • Peize Zhang,
  • Guofang Deng,
  • Liang Fu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2022.985499
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

Read online

The revised WHO guidelines on multidrug- or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) include linezolid in the core drug group. Common adverse events of prolonged linezolid use are bone marrow suppression and peripheral neuropathy (PN). Available measures against linezolid-induced PN (LIPN) often have insignificant effects, leading to linezolid discontinuation and a decline in the success rate of MDR/RR-TB treatment. Acupuncture treatment is a symptomatic treatment measure from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to relieve pain with overall very low evidence and has never been reported in LIPN. The pilot use of acupuncture in a pre-extensively drug-resistant (XDR)-TB (a more severe form of MDR/RR-TB) patient exhibited significant improvements in LIPN and thus maintained linezolid in the regimen for a longer period.

Keywords