Clinical Study on the Management of Cerebral Palsy with Yoga Basti (Medicated Enema)

Background: Disabled children are of great concern for families as well as the society. Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the leading cause of chronic disability in children, making them physically and mentally handicapped and socially apart. Considering the signs and symptoms of CP, the disease entity seems to be very close to the presentation of Vata Vyadhi (disease caused due to predominance of Vata biohumor). Treatment of Vata Dosha consists of a variety of modalities among which Basti (enema) is said to be the prime one. Aim: The present study was designed to evaluate the role of Yoga Basti in the management of cerebral Palsy. Materials & Methods: Six patients were enrolled in the study who were administered with three courses of procedures. Initially Udvartana (a type of massage usually with dry powder) was done for first 5 days, followed by Abhyanga (a type of massage usually with oil) for next 5 days with Bala Taila & Nadi Sweda (type of fomentation) and Yoga Basti (medicated enema) for next 8 days. Medhya Churna (powder of drugs) was given as internal medication for 86 days. The International standard assessment protocol was adopted to evaluate the efficacy of the therapy. Results: The efficacy of treatment assessed on CDC grade revealed that head holding, sitting, standing, fine motor improved significantly (p< 0.05). Muscle power and Manual Ability Classification System (MACS), also showed significant (p < 0.05) result, while Modified Ashworth Scale and Activities of Daily Living score (ADL) showed insignificant (p > 0.05) result. Conclusion: The present treatment modality conducted on a small number of patients revealed improvement mainly upon gross motor functions, however a further study with large sample size may be helpful to authenticate the effectiveness of the same.