Ayurvedic management of Ulcerative Keratitis – A case report

Abstract

Ulcerative Keratitis is a sight-threatening corneal infection. It is one of the most common global causes of irreversible blindness due to corneal diseases. This case report highlights the potential of Ayurvedic management in nonresponding ulcerative keratitis. A 20 year old boy came to the outpatient department with redness, discharge, photophobia and defective vision in the right eye since 4 months following a foreign body injury. He was treated at leading ophthalmic hospital for keratitis but due to poor response was suggested keratoplasty and the patient had opted for Ayurvedic treatment. He was initially treated in the OPD and since he started responding well to treatment, he was admitted in the hospital. He underwent Jaloukavacharana, Snehapana, Virechana, Nasya, Anjana, Tarpana and Putapaka. He was completely relieved of pain, redness, discharge, photophobia. His BCVA was hand movements at the time of the first visit and it improved to 6/24 at the time of discharge. Ayurveda has an important role to play in infective eye diseases which needs to be explored scientifically. Keywords: Ulcerative keratitis, Nonresponding, Ayurveda, Herbal medicine, Leech therapy