[Donepezil therapy by neuropathic pain].

A case report of a successful treatment of neuropathic pain after a plexus brachialis injury is presented. On basis of experience from nerve-injured rat models 5 mg donepezil was added to an already instituted gabapentin therapy of 800 mg x 3 daily. This allowed halving the gapentin dose with fully contained pain alleviation but with a drastic reduction of gabapentin's side effects: ataxia and somnolence. Thus, without adding any new side effects life quality was improved and an increased working capacity was observed together with a weight loss of 9 kg over six months.