Clinical response of Abhaya Ghrita and procedure based therapy on Gross Motor Functions in children with Cerebral Palsy : An Open Label, Randomized Clinical Trial
Introduction - Cerebral Palsy (CP) being the leading cause of disability in children is a symptom complex, whichv has worldwide incidence of 2.1/1000 live births, and for India it is 3/1000 live births. In Ayurveda, the cerebral palsy can be correlated with various conditions due to Vata predominance. There is no satisfactory criterion in managing this condition is developed till date. The present study is planned with Abhaya Ghrita and procedure based therapy to provide possible improvement in gross motor function of children with cerebral palsy and thereby improving their quality of life. Material and Methods - A Trial was conducted at a tertiary health care setting to evaluate the clinical efficacy of Ayurvedic Intervention (Abhaya Ghrita and procedure based therapy Udvartana, Sarvanga Abhyanga, Nadi Sweda and Matra Basti). Diagnosed children of cerebral palsy, aged 1-12 years of either gender were selected. The scale gross motor function manual (GMFM) and Cerebral Palsy quality of life (CP-QOL) were used for assessment. Results - Total 20 patients were registered in the present study. 70% patients were below 8 years of age with clear male predominance comprised of 85% of the total sample size. As per the birth history of the patients 15% were preterm, home delivery was present in 20%. 45% and 10% were Low birth weight (LBW) and Very Low birth weight (VLBW) after birth respectively. History of delayed cry was present in 80% cases. 45% required Hospitalization and 65% were subjected to Resuscitation and need of incubator just after birth was present in 25% patients. Discussion - Gross Motor Function scale has shown significant improvement in motor activities like lying and rolling, sitting and total score with pandlt;0.001, on crawling and kneeling and standing with pandlt;0.01 and on walking and running with pandlt;0.02. The CP-QOL has also shown significant results on health and family and friends component. Conclusion - Thus, it may be concluded that the Ayurveda approach is effective in improving the gross motor function and quality of life of children with cerebral palsy.