A case study on successful ayurvedic management of a rare case of reiter's syndrome

Abstract

Reiter's syndrome is a clinical syndrome of arthritis, urethritis, conjunctivitis, and mucocutaneous lesions. Skin and mucosal involvement is observed in about 10% of the cases. A 34-year-old male was brought in severe condition. He had red colored foul smelling maculopapular skin lesions all over body, swollen and painful knee and shoulder joints. History revealed that he was suffering from Reiter's syndrome since 2003. He used to get admitted between the months of February and May every year due to aggravation of symptoms. Every time he was treated with systemic antibiotics, corticosteroids, immunosuppressants and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. He was successfully treated with external application and internal medication with tikta (bitter) and kaṣāya (astringent) drugs. He got significant relief in skin lesions as well as joint pain and his quality of life was markedly improved. This case study demonstrates that Reiter's syndrome can be well managed with Ayurvedic medicines.

Keywords

• Ayurvedic intervention
• maculopapular skin lesions
• Reiter's syndrome