The effect of “ku-oketsu” medicine to the post-stoke shoulder-hand syndrome at the period of convalescent rehabilitation ward stays

Abstract

Post–stroke shoulder–hand syndrome is a syndrome that causes pain, swelling, hotness and color change to the affected upper limb especially in the fingers and back of the hand for 2 weeks to 3 months after a stroke. This syndrome is an inhibitor to rehabilitation and is often a problem in convalescent reha­bilitation wards of hospitals at this time. It is important to take appropriate measures at an early stage, as this syndrome will not return to normal if it progresses. Although oral steroid treatment is a typical treatment for this syndrome, in some cases it is not effective after repeated recurrence and it cannot always be used because of side effects. This time, I tried the admin­istration of keishibukuryougan that can be used safely long term for this syndrome and I report 3 cases that showed improvement of symptoms. Case 1 and 2 are cases that recurrence did not occur after administration of keishibukuryougan despite recurrence occurring repeat­edly with oral steroid treatment. Case 3 is a case where only swelling is symptom and improvement of the condition is recognized by treatment with only keishibukuryougan.