Pharmacological and psychosomatic treatments for an elderly patient with severe nausea and vomiting in reaction to postoperative stress.

Here we present a case of successful treatment employing a mixed approach including pharmacological and psychosomatic treatments for a 72-year-old woman who experienced severe nausea and vomiting in reaction to postoperative stress from gastric cancer surgery. This case demonstrates that appropriate provision of psychosomatic treatments, including a psychotherapeutic session and autogenic training, enhances the efficacy of pharmacotherapy.

Singing therapy can be effective for a patient with severe nonfluent aphasia.

Patients with severe aphasia are rarely treated using speech therapy. We used music therapy to continue to treat a 79-year-old patient with chronic severe aphasia. Interventions 1, 2, and 3 were to practice singing a song that the patient knew, to practice singing a song with a therapist, and to practice saying a greeting using a song with lyrics, respectively. In addition, practice of uttering names of body parts was initiated using touch and rhythm. After intervention 1, the patient could sing spontaneously and repeat lyrics. After intervention 2, she could sing with the therapist, and sing spontaneously and repeat lyrics. After intervention 3, she could memorize words with meaning, say the words in context, and use them. The patient could utter the names of two body parts after therapy with touch and rhythm. These suggest that rehabilitation therapy can still be used in patients with severe cognitive impairment.