Saturday Night Palsy Managed with Conceptual Ayurvedic Principles, with special reference to Shashtika Shali Annalepa - A Traditional Kerala Massage.

Abstract

The Radial nerve palsy/Saturday night palsy is a condition in which the radial nerve running from the upper arm to the wrist and fingers is injured, resulting in weakness, numbness, and impaired movements such as extension of the elbow, wrist and inability to control the muscles supplied by the nerve. Damage to the radial nerve leads to loss of effective function of the extensor muscle group. As a result, when the patient tries to raise the arm to a horizontal level, the hand fails to extend and instead droops loosely, remaining flexed at the wrist. In the present case, a 36-year-old male patient reported to our OPD with the chief complaint of inability to extend the right wrist and fingers. After thorough history taking and detailed clinical examination, the condition was diagnosed as Saturday night palsy. Based on the presenting features, the condition was correlated with Hastasada and managed accordingly. Conventional management of this condition primarily includes physical rehabilitation, administration of systemic corticosteroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and local steroid injections. In instances of significant radial nerve injury, surgical intervention may be considered. With Ayurvedic treatment modalities/based on basic concepts especially Shashtikashali annalepam was found to be highly effective in achieving complete recovery within a short duration.