中醫治療「產後乳腺炎」病例報告

A Case Report of Postpartum Mastitis

乳腺炎好發於產後三個月內餵母乳的母親，許多產婦因而退乳，放棄哺乳的機會，嚴重者甚至需開刀引流。本報告提供使用中醫治療乳腺炎之案例：一位三十二歲產後哺育母乳之產婦，在哺乳月餘後，乳房開始有紅腫熱痛及硬塊出現，自行施與乳房按摩但硬塊仍存，且出現發燒至38.9℃，因而至中醫門診求診。經診治後，患者乳腺炎消退，但乳汁量未減仍可持續哺乳。中醫在治療上針對產婦個人體質調理及減少局部發炎合併用藥，可提供治療乳腺炎的另一選擇。

Mastitis is a disease frequently seen on lactating mothers and typically occurs in the first 3 months postpartum. It may cause most of the suffering mothers give up breast-feeding, even need to receive the drainage operation. We reported a typical case with postpartum mastitis who received Chinese medical treatment. A 32 years old postpartum nursing woman suffered from right breast redness, swelling, hot and tenderness after breast-feeding for about 1month. She massaged her breast, but the symptoms persisted. Then she got fever to 38.9 ºC, so she went to our outpatient department for help. After Chinese medical treatment, the symptoms of mastitis subsided rapidly. She could continue nursing and the amount of milk did not decrease. This case revealed that the postpartum mastitis was relieved after Chinese medical treatment by both adjusting the patient’s constitutional status and attenuating local inflammation. This provides a promising choice for the treatment of postpartum mastitis.