We report a patient who was successfully treated with a herbal formulation of goreisan (Wu-ling-san) for recurrent vomiting associated with pyloric stenosis, with significant simultaneous improvement of congestive heart failure.
A 78-year-old woman was in a bedridden state after cerebral infarction and was being fed through a nasal tube. She often experience repeated vomiting and aspiration pneumonia. Cicatricial stenosis was found in the pyloric region and we performed an expansion operation with balloon endoscopy. However, symptoms did not improve and her heart failure worsened. Therefore, we administered goreisan. Urinary output volume increased, edematous changes gradually disappeared, and pleural effusion decreased. The stenosis-related lesion did not change, but the vomiting ceased, even after nasal tube feeding was resumed.
Goreisan is an herbal formula used to promote diuresis that is considered to correct water absorption in digestive organs. In this case, goreisan was effective for the improvement of many symptoms.