RESUMEN
Classical trigeminal neuralgia (CTN) is a disease characterized by severe pain in the facial area related to the trigeminal nerve. CTN occurs due to neurovascular compression of the Trigeminal nerve presenting with recurrent pain episodes. This case reports the effect of Ayurveda interventions on CTN. Thirty-nine-year-old male patient with pain on the right side of the face for two years presented to the National Institute of Ayurveda, Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. The pain was distributed on the right side of the upper lip, cheek, and chin. Paroxysms of pain appeared at the interval of 1-2 h and were lasting of 1-2 min. The case was diagnosed with the help of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as right-side classical trigeminal neuralgia due to indentation of the vascular loop of the right superior cerebellar artery. The patient had a treatment history of two years with allopathic medicine, and he sought Ayurveda treatment due to recurrence and excessive pain. The patient was given Ayurvedic interventions (oral medication, Nasya, Kavalagraha, and Gandusha) for three months. The improvement were observed on the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), and Short Form -36 questionnaire (SF-36) for quality of life. After three months of the treatment, the VAS scale for pain and the HADS scale for anxiety and depression showed marked improvement. Improvement in all the domains of SF-36 was observed, with a total percentage improvement from 10.7% to 83.2%. Observations of this case highlight the usefulness of Ayurveda interventions, i.e., Oral medication, Nasya, Kavalagraha, and Gandusha, in reducing the acute paroxysms of pain in Classical TN and improving the quality of life of CTN patients.
RESUMEN
Sri Lanka comprises of a well-established traditional orthopedic treatment system. A 14 year old child had a compound fracture over shaft of humerus. The internal fixator Kirschner (k) wire was applied following allopathic treatment and after three weeks, it was removed as there was no healing of wound over fracture site. Patient was asked to follow orthopedic clinic but defaulted and presented to Ayurveda management. X-ray reports showed nonunion of the humerus. Initially, nonunion bone was immobilized for six months using bamboo splints. Prior to applying the splints, during every visit, herbal oil and herbal paste were applied. Subsequently up to six months, motor, sensory functions assessment and quality of life (QoL) assessment was done using Quality of Life of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (QLIOF) questionnaire. Initial power of wrist and fingers were graded 1 and in 6- months time, improved to grade 5. The difference in the QLIOF scores were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed rank test. There was a significant (p = 0.03) difference between the pre-treatment (14) and post-treatment (59) QLIOF scores. The anterior- posterior and lateral X-ray showed complete healing of the fracture. This report indicates that the methods and medicines in Ayurveda and traditional orthopedic system can successfully treat a nonunion of humerus fracture.
RESUMEN
Assessment of outcome following Ayurveda treatment protocol was done in a complicated case of spinal fracture with motor dysfunction and having a past history of Pott's disease. A 52-year-old man was suffering from motor dysfunction after a spinal fracture at D5/D6 level. The patient sought Ayurveda treatments because he did not gained any significant improvement according to mainstream medical treatments what he underwent for several years. According to Ayurveda, the patient was treated following immobilization, external and internal application of herbal preparations followed by physiotherapy. The outcome of the treatments were monitored by motor function assessment, quality of life assessment and computed tomography scan. Initial signs of improvement were observed just after 1 month of commencing Ayurveda treatments. Continuously following the treatments for 24-month duration, the patient was reverted back to his normal life. This complicated case of spinal fracture was successfully cured using Ayurveda treatment. Therefore, the observations made here would be useful for organizing a future clinical trial.