Two Cases of Hiccups Successfully Treated with Keishininjinto / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

Persistent or intractable hiccups worsen the activity of daily life and the quality of life of patients, but are sometimes difficult to treat. There are no recommended therapies in Western medicine for hiccups, and Kampo medicine can often be used. However, there have been no case reports on keishininjinto for hiccups. We experienced two cases of hiccups successfully treated with keishininjinto. Case 1 was a 68-year-old man who continued intractable hiccups for 3 years. Case 2 was an 81-year-old man who developed persistent hiccups during mechanical ventilation. Both cases had spontaneous sweat, tendency of diarrhea, epigastric discomfort and resistance, and cold of epigastrium, so we diagnosed them as keishininjinto-sho. It took 6 months to improve hiccups after administration of keishininjinto in case 1 and 1 week in case 2. Keishininjinto can be effective for hiccups with interior and cold pattern.