Treatment of leprosy wounds with ''Jinchuang ointment'', a traditional Chinese herbal medicine complex

摘要

Non-healing ulcers are frequently seen in leprosy, which become one ofthe major causes of disability. For more than a decade, Jinchuang ointment, atraditional Chinese herbal medicine has been successfully used to treat non-healingwounds and pressure sores of diabetics in several hospitals in Taiwan. The recipe ofthis herbal medicine was first published in 1732. The object of this study is to evaluatethe efficacy of this herbal medicine for the treatment of chronic non-healing ulcers ofleprosy patients, present for up to ten years. They were already given up by other physicians to treat their wounds. Four patients with an average age of 86 were treatedin this study. Our results show that Jinchuang ointment provides a feasible, safe,simple and low-cost method to treat leprosy ulcers. Due to its low cost, this traditionalChinese medicine might play an important role in treating leprosy ulcers in lowincome countries in the future.