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Guillain-Barre syndrome - Treatment

Alternative Names

Landry-Guillain-Barre syndrome; Acute idiopathic polyneuritis; Infectious polyneuritis; Acute inflammatory polyneuropathy

Treatment:

There is no cure for Guillain-Barre syndrome. However, many treatments are available to help reduce symptoms, treat complications, and speed up recovery.

When symptoms are severe, the patient will need to go to the hospital for breathing help, treatment, and physical therapy.

A method called plasmapheresis is used to clean a person's blood of proteins called antibodies. Blood is taken from the body, usually from the arm, pumped into a machine that removes the antibodies, then sent back into the body.

High-dose immunoglobulin therapy (IVIg) is another procedure used to reduce the severity and length of Guillain-Barre symptoms.

Other treatments are directed at preventing complications.

Blood thinners may be used to prevent blood clots.
If the diaphragm is week, breathing support or even a breathing tube and ventilator may be needed.
Pain is treated aggressively with anti-inflammatory medicines and narcotics, if needed.
Proper body positioning or a feeding tube may be used to prevent choking during feeding if the muscles for swallowing are weak.

Support Groups:

Guillain-Barre Syndrome Foundation International - www.gbsfi.com

Expectations (prognosis):

Recovery can take weeks or years. Most people survive and recover completely. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, about 30 percent of patients still have some weakness after 3 years. Mild weakness may persist for some people.

A patient's outcome is most likely to be very good when the symptoms go away within 3 weeks after they first started.

Complications:

Breathing difficulty (respiratory failure)
Contractures of joints or other deformity
Deep vein thrombosis
Increased risk of infections
Low or unstable blood pressure.
Permanent loss of movement of an area
Pneumonia
Sucking food or fluids into the lungs (aspiration)

Calling your health care provider:

Seek immediate medical help if you have any of the following symptoms:

Can't take a deep breath
Decreased feeling (sensation)
- Difficulty breathing
- Difficulty swallowing
- Fainting
- Loss of movement

Superficial anterior muscles

Reviewed last on: 6/4/2008
Linda Vorvick, MD, Seattle Site Coordinator, Maternal & Child Health Lecturer, Pathophysiology, MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Washington School of Medicine; Daniel B. Hoch, PhD, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Hughes RA, Raphael JC, Swan AV, van Doorn PA. Intravenous immunoglobulin for Guillain-Barre syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006 Jan 25;(1):CD002063. Review.

Hughes RA, Wijdicks EF, Barohn R, et al. Practice parameter: immunotherapy for Guillain-Barre syndrome: report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology. 2003 Sep. 23;61(6):736-40.

Sharar E. Current therapeutic options in severe Guillain-Barre syndrome. Clin Neuropharmacol. 2006 Jan-Feb;29(1):45-51.

Roos, KL. Viral Infections. In: Goetz, CG, ed. Textbook of Clinical Neurology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 41.

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