A child with unexplained chest pain successfully treated with oriental medical treatment

Abstract

The patient was an 11-year-old boy. Two years earlier, he had experienced left anterior chest pain lasting 1–5 minutes, 1–4 times a month, and he was referred to our hospital. At the initial consultation, the patient had chest pain with a numerical rating scale 5–7 in the left Th5 region 3–4 times a month, and he sometimes missed school. Because he had sleep disorders, such as sudden loud crying while asleep and the oriental medical findings determined that he had deficiency pattern and urgency of symptoms, we administered Kanbakutaisoto extract granules (5 g twice a day) and acupuncture. As a result, the symptoms disappeared five months after the first consultation. These results suggest that oriental medical treatment is helpful when psychosocial factors are suspected to be involved in pediatric chest pain.