Case report: Treating Guillain–Barré syndrome with acupuncture–moxibustion and traditional Chinese Medicine patent prescription (Jingui Shenqi Pill)

• Main Authors: Yingying Zang, Yongji Qin, Yi Li, Zhaoyang Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2018-07-01
• Series: Journal of Traditional Chinese Medical Sciences
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095754817302272

Background: Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute demyelinating polyneuritis in which the immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. About two-thirds of GBS patients have a history of acute infection before developing GBS. Immunotherapy and supportive therapies are widely used to treat GBS; however, one in three patients experiences neurologic sequelae. In China, acupuncture–moxibustion has shown unique benefits for the treatment of neurological diseases and has a wide range of applications in neurology. Case presentation: We treated an elderly Russian female patient diagnosed with GBS. The chief complaints were upper limb weakness, lower limb paralysis, and inability to self-care. The traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis was flaccidity syndrome (Wei Zheng). After 5 weeks of acupuncture and moxibustion combined with Chinese patent medicine treatment, the patient's limb muscle strength was significantly improved and her ability to self-care was largely restored. Conclusion: The present findings demonstrated that acupuncture and moxibustion combined with Chinese patent medicine can alleviate muscle weakness caused by GBS. However, clinical randomized controlled trials are warranted to verify the precise clinical efficacy. Keywords: Guillain–Barré syndrome, Acupuncture, Moxibustion, Scalp acupuncture, Jingui Shenqi Pill