Treatment of Guillain-Barre Syndrome

The treatment in the early stages of Guillain-Barre Syndrome are designed to shorten the course of the disease. There are two ways to treat GBS. One can use plasmaphresis. This is a process of removing the antibodies from a patient’s blood in a manner very similar to dialysis. Most patients receive five courses of plasmaphresis and then no additional therapy. The other treatment involves receiving intravenous gammaglobulin. Most studies indicate that these two treatments have essentially the same efficacy.

GBS improves spontaneously. However, certain factors can assist recovery:

• good nursing and medical/intensive care;
•  hysiotherapy and hydrotherapy, therapies that relieve discomfort and prevent stiffness;
•  immunoglobulin — the infusion of immunoglobulin proves successful with similar results to plasmapheresis;
•  lasmapheresis — the exchange of blood plasma generally reduces the duration of the disease in severe cases if carried out in the first few days; and
• counselling to reassure the patient and encourage the patient towards recovery.