Kouichi Nagatomo, PT, Hideki Arai, MD, Yuki Koumura, PT
Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 10: 103-107, 2019
Introduction: We report the case of a patient with
Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) who required
mechanical ventilation (MV) during hospitalization
for Kaifukuki rehabilitation to focus mainly on gait
training, ultimately resulting in successful weaning
from MV.
Case: The patient, a 49-year-old woman, was admitted
to an acute hospital with the chief complaint of
dyspnea and gait disturbance following diarrhea for 7
days. She was diagnosed with suspected GBS based
on respiratory paralysis, quadriplegia, abducens
paralysis, and facial paralysis. On the same day,
invasive MV was initiated, and she was transferred to
another acute hospital. She was diagnosed with an
axonal type of GBS and was treated. She was
transferred to our hospital for Kaifukuki rehabilitation
on day 54. Rehabilitation mainly focusing on gait
training using a trunk-hip-bilateral knee-ankle-foot
orthosis with inside hip joint for patients with
paraplegia allowed our patient to withdraw from MV
on day 125.
Discussion: It was highly possible that increased
ventilation volume resulting from an adequate exercise
load allowed the patient to wean from MV. All patients
who require MV and whose condition is stable should
receive rehabilitation exercise.
Key words: Guillain-Barre syndrome, Kaifukuki rehabilitation, mechanical ventilator, gait training, a trunk-hip-bilateral knee-ankle-foot orthosis with inside hip joint for patients with paraplegia