Basilar invagination managed with electroacupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine: the report of a rare case in a pediatric patient

J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Feb;15(2):197-200. doi: 10.1089/acm.2008.0057.

Abstract

Background: A 13-year-old girl who suffered from basilar invagination managed with electroacupuncture and Chinese Herbal medicine is presented in this report. This is a rare disease. The condition was misdiagnosed by many biomedical specialists over a period of 5 years. There has been no literature ever recorded in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) history for the treatment of this rare condition.

Methods: The patient has a secondary condition, hydrocephalus, which was categorized as Jie Lu from a Chinese Medicine perspective. Jie Lu has also been used to form the rational base of the TCM treatment.

Results: This patient's condition stabilized for a period of 3 years. As bone growth continued, the severity of the patient's symptoms increased. The patient has turned 19; her symptoms have become more severe and she is unable to walk for a short distance.

Conclusions: Finally, a diagnosis of basilar invagination was confirmed by a private health service provider team separate from several public hospitals' specialist teams.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Axis, Cervical Vertebra / abnormalities*
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal / therapeutic use*
  • Electroacupuncture*
  • Female
  • Foramen Magnum / abnormalities*
  • Headache / etiology
  • Headache / therapy
  • Humans
  • Hydrocephalus / therapy*
  • Magnoliopsida
  • Medicine, Chinese Traditional
  • Phytotherapy*
  • Spinal Diseases / pathology
  • Spinal Diseases / therapy

Substances

  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal