Top

BioPsychoSocial Medicine

Published in:

Open Access 01-12-2021 | Short report

Efficacy of rikkosan for primary burning mouth syndrome: a retrospective study

Authors: Hiroyuki Hato, Ken-ichiro Sakata, Jun Sato, Takuya Asaka, Noritaka Ohga, Yutaka Yamazaki, Yoshimasa Kitagawa

Published in: BioPsychoSocial Medicine | Issue 1/2021

Abstract

Background

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic condition characterized by pain in the oral cavity. Kampo medicine is a traditional Japanese medical system that has its roots partly in ancient Chinese medicine. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of rikkosan—a traditional Japanese herbal medicine (Kampo)—in the treatment of primary BMS.

Main body

A single-center retrospective study was conducted in 32 patients who were diagnosed with primary BMS and treated with rikkosan alone through gargling (2.5 g rikkosan dissolved in 50 mL hot water) three times daily. Patients were asked to evaluate their pain using a numerical rating scale (NRS) at first visit and after 1 month. One patient had stomatitis as a side effect after gargling with rikkosan, however, no side effects were observed in other patients. Overall NRS scores decreased significantly between the first visit (7.6 ± 2.7) and the 1-month visit (5.6 ± 2.8).

Conclusions

Rikkosan may be an effective treatment for primary BMS.

Sun A, Wu KM, Wang YP, Lin HP, Chen HM, Chiang CP. Burning mouth syndrome: a review and update. J Oral Pathol Med. 2013;9:649–55.CrossRef

Maina G, Vitalucci A, Gandolfo S, Bogetto F. Comparative efficacy of SSRIs and amisulpride in burning mouth syndrome: a single-blind study. J Clin Psychiatry. 2002;63:38–43.CrossRef

Chouinard G. Issues in the clinical use of benzodiazepines: potency, withdrawal, and rebound. J Clin Psychiatry. 2004;65:7–12.PubMed

Watson CP, Vernich L, Chipman M, Reed K. Nortriptyline versus amitriptyline in postherpetic neuralgia: a randomized trial. Neurology. 1998;51:1166–71.CrossRef

Yoshino A, Mori K, Tanaka H, Fukushima M, Yamazaki Y, Takeshima H, et al. The effect of rikkosan for pain control after tooth extraction. Jpn J Oral Diagn. 2000;13:107–12.

Horie N, Hashimoto K, Hino S, Kato T, Shimoyama T, Kaneko T, et al. Anti-inflammatory potential of Rikkosan based on IL-1β network through macrophages to oral tissue cells. In Vivo. 2014;28:563–9.PubMed

Niimi T, Yamazaki Y, Shimada M. Effectiveness of Rikkosan for intractable intraoral pain. Tradit Kampo Med. 2015;2:27–9.CrossRef

Sakata K, Yamazaki Y, Ohga N, Sato J, Asaka T, Yoshikawa K, et al. Clinical efficacy of a traditional Japanese (kampo) medicine for burning mouth syndrome. Tradit Kampo Med. 2016;3:120–2.CrossRef

Nakazawa S, Okada K, Matsushita T, Hegozaki S, Sakata KI, Kitagawa Y, et al. Effectiveness of Rikkosan gargling for burning mouth syndrome. Tradit Kampo Med. 2016;4:121–3.CrossRef

10.

Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society (IHS). The international classification of headache disorders, 3rd edition (beta version). Cephalalgia; 2013. p. 629-808.

11.

Balasubramaniam R, Klasser GD, Delcanho R. Separating oral burning from burning mouth syndrome: unravelling a diagnostic enigma. Aust Dent J. 2009;54:293–9.CrossRef

12.

Ichiro, Arai. Clinical studies of traditional Japanese herbal medicines (Kampo): Need for evidence by the modern scientific methodology. Integr Med Res 2021:100722.

13.

Silvestre FJ, Silvestre-Rangil J, Tamarit-Santafé C, Bautista D. Application of a capsaicin rinse in the treatment of burning mouth syndrome. Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal. 2012;17:e1–4.CrossRef

14.

Gremeau-Richard C, Woda A, Navez ML, Attal N, Bouhassira D, Gagnieu MC, et al. Topical clonazepam in stomatodynia: a randomised placebo-controlled study. Pain. 2004;108:51–7.CrossRef

15.

Horie N, Hashimoto K, Kato T, Shimoyama T, Kaneko T, Kusama K, et al. COX-2 as possible target for the inhibition of PGE2 production by Rikko-san in activated macrophage. In Vivo. 2008;22:333–6.PubMed

16.

Yilmaz Z, Renton T, Yiangou Y, Zakrzewska J, Chessell IP, Bountra C, et al. Burning mouth syndrome as a trigeminal small fibre neuropathy: increased heat and capsaicin receptor TRPV1 in nerve fibres correlates with pain score. J Clin Neurosci. 2007;14:864–71.CrossRef

Title: Efficacy of rikkosan for primary burning mouth syndrome: a retrospective study
Authors: Hiroyuki Hato
Ken-ichiro Sakata
Jun Sato
Takuya Asaka
Noritaka Ohga
Yutaka Yamazaki
Yoshimasa Kitagawa
Publication date: 01-12-2021
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BioPsychoSocial Medicine / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1751-0759
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13030-021-00221-2

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Efficacy of rikkosan for primary burning mouth syndrome: a retrospective study

Abstract

Background

Main body

Conclusions

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Main body

Conclusions

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2021

The anxious-depressive attack severity scale: development and initial validation and reliability

A case of vestibular schwannoma mimicking burning mouth syndrome

Effect of handholding on heart rate variability in both patients with cancer and their family caregivers: a randomized crossover study

Subjective cognitive impairment and presenteeism mediate the associations of rumination with subjective well-being and ill-being in Japanese adult workers from the community

Anorexia nervosa, conduct disorder, and the juvenile justice system: a case of applying traditional treatment modalities in a non-traditional setting

Correction to: The reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the daily record of severity of problems (J-DRSP) and development of a short-form version (J-DRSP (SF)) to assess symptoms of premenstrual syndrome among Japanese women