Abstract
Abstract
Background:
Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a medical emergency characterized by extravasation of blood into the subarachnoid space after the rupture of a cerebral aneurysm and presents a high risk of complications and death.
Case:
A young patient (a previously healthy 32-year-old man) presented with SAH accompanied by a severe headache and vasospasm (as shown on a transcranial Doppler scan). The objective was to use integrative medicine to treat his SAH in an intensive care unit (ICU). Conventional and traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practices were used. The TCM treatment consisted of electroacupuncture (EA) in BL 2/TE 23 and BL 10/GB 20 at 2/100 Hz during his stay in the ICU.
Results:
EA inhibited the increase of blood flow speed in the middle cerebral and basilar artery and alleviated the patient's severe headache and vasospasm. Thus, among the possible mechanisms of EA that account for our results, we propose that its effects on humoral adjustment mechanisms and neurogenic factors contribute to modulation of the imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activities and thereby results in improved endothelial dysfunction and modulation of the cytokine profile and inflammatory mediators.
Conclusions:
The results achieved with this patient suggest that EA was able to reduce headache in addition to reducing cerebral blood flow speed with improvement in brain perfusion. Controlled prospective studies are required to reaffirm and consolidate EA as an important technique for addressing SAH.
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