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Background: Adequately informed family physicians have the greatest potential to correctly identify the diagnosis of fibromyalgia (FM) and develop an initial treatment plan. Therefore, it is substantial to determine the levels of weakness and inaccuracies of primary care physicians regarding FM diagnostic criteria and management strategies. Aim: This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding FM among primary care physicians in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Methods:This cross-sectional study included family physicians who were board-certified or registered in the family medicine training program and working at the government family health care centers in Tabuk. A pre-designed, structured questionnaire was distributed either in a written form or as an online survey. Results: This study included 52 primary healthcare physicians. Twenty-two (42.3%) participants incorrectly recorded localized pain as a diagnostic symptom, and 45 (86.5%) incorrectly recorded nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, prednisolone, and/or opioids as drugs that are used for treating FM. Only 59.6% were confident recognizing symptoms of FM and 55.8% were confident differentiating FM from other similar diseases. Conclusions: The primary healthcare physicians working in the governments primary healthcare centers in Tabuk city, Saudi Arabia have low levels of knowledge about diagnostic criteria and treatment strategies of FM. These findings highlight the need for continuous professional development involving family physicians in the primary health care setting with suitable continuous medical education programs concerning FM.

Background and objectives: Post-herpetic neuralgia is common severe pain that leads to poor quality of life. Various topical and systemic drugs were in use including topical lidocaine medicated plaster 5% (05% LMP. This is the first meta-analysis to compare 5% lidocaine medicated plaster and pregabalin. Thus, this study aimed to assess the effectiveness of 5% LMP and pregabalin in PHN and compare these medications regarding the same. Methods: We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, EBSCO, and Cochrane Library for publications assessing 5% lidocaine medicated plaster and pregabalin drugs on post-herpetic neuralgia. We included articles published in English from inception up to February 2022. All types of studies were included except case reports, case series, studies on animals, and experimental studies. The terms used were: 5% lidocaine medicated plaster, pregabalin, post-herpetic neuralgia, pain relief, pain reduction, and pain scores. We identified 579 articles and the number stood at 435 after duplication removal, of them, 45 full texts were screened. Eight cohorts from seven studies were included in the final meta-analysis. The most recent RevMan system was used for data analysis. Results: The pain score was significantly lower among patients receiving topical lidocaine compared to placebo or pre and post-intervention (odd ratio, -1.91, 95% CI, -3.77-0.04). Lidocaine Medicated Plaster 5% and pregabalin were effective for pain relief in PHN. However, 5% LMP was more effective (odd ratio, 2.11, 95% CI, 1.41-3.17). Interpretation and Conclusion: Five % lidocaine medicated plaster was effective for the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia. In addition, the drug was more beneficial than placebo and pregabalin. Further randomized controlled studies assessing the use of LMP 5% on acute herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia are recommended.