Abstract

GUILLAIN-BARRÉ SYNDROME – A COMPLETE OVERVIEW

Saumil A. Vaidya*, Pradum S. Shinde and Swati R. Dhande

ABSTRACT

Guillain- Barre syndrome (GBS) is basically an acute onset, immune-mediated disorder of the peripheral nervous system. In the beginning, the particular symptoms are changes in sensation, or pain accompanied by muscle weakness which begins in the feet and hands which frequently spreads up to the arms and upper body. There are two main subtypes of GBS – axonal and demyelinating subtype. Globally, the incidence rate of GBS was found to be in between 1.1/100,000 per year to 1.8/100,000 per year. The incidence rate of GBS in India has not been reported yet. GBS is typically a post-infectious disorder, with two thirds of the adult patients reporting preceding symptoms of a respiratory or gastrointestinal infection. Campylobacter jejuni is the principal infection found in 25-50 % of patients. Nerve conduction studies, electromyography, cerebro-spinal fluid examination, imaging studies, lumbar puncture and differential diagnosis are the methods which are used to diagnose GBS. Plasma exchange and intra-venous immunoglobulin have proved to be significantly effective as treatment methods. No combination therapy has been found to be significantly successful yet. There is a lot of scope for the development of suitable combination therapies which may prove to be more effective than the existing treatment methods.

Keywords: Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, Guillain – Barre Syndrome, Diagnosis, Treatment.