ANAL FISTULA TREATED BY HOMEOPATHY IN A FRENCH BULLDOG - CASE REPORT

Abstract

Introdution: Anal fistula/perianal is a disease that affects the anal tissue and adjacent skin, associated with severe skin infections. The occurrence of this disease is higher than it appears in the routine of the small animal clinic. The etiology of the perianal fistula has not been elucidated so far. The diagnosis is clinical, and its treatment employs antibiotics, immunosuppressants. However, these medicines are not always efficient, and surgery becomes the only option. Side effects are frequent, and a complementary treatment plan must be evaluated. Homeopathy is a therapeutic technique suggested by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann and aims at healing through stimuli to the body's vital energy. This study aimed to report a perianal fistula occurrence in a dog of the French bulldog breed treated by homeopathy. Methods: Male dog, French bulldog breed, with the complaint of walking and sitting at all times associated with the frequent licking of the anus. After physical examination the diagnosis was perianal fistula. The treatment was based by -9 -6 homeopathy with injectable medicines Belladonna D9 (1x10 ) associated with Arnica montana D6 (1x10 ); Nitric acidum -60 -18 30CH (1x10 ); Hamamellis virginiana D18 (1x10 ). The patient showed clinical improvement right after the first application of the medication, decreasing the stimulus of pain and discomfort. Seventeen days after treatment initiation, the inflammatory process was resolved. Homeopathy has been proposed as a regulatory therapy with a natural tendency to rebalance vital energy and organic functions. The homeopathic medicines were chosen based on the law of similars, i.e., using highly diluted and energized medicines to treat the symptoms and diseases that these same substances, in ponderal doses, would cause in a healthy patient. The treatment here reported did not generate side effects and was effective in its purpose. Treatment time was short, and, additionally, the animal was followed up for eight months after treatment with no relevant clinical changes. Conclusion: The therapeutic protocol determined reestablished the function of the affected tissues with total resolution of the disease in 17 days, with no complications. New comparative and randomized studies must be carried out to better understand the efficacy of such therapy