Guillain-Barre Syndrome

Treatment of GBS is usually only supportive in nature, consisting of careful monitoring of the potential need for mechanical assistance in the event of paralysis of the muscles of respiration, as well as attention to the patient's fluid and cardiovascular status.

Plasmapheresis, performed early in the course of GBS, has been shown to shorten the course and severity of GBS, and consists of withdrawing the patient's blood, passing it through a cell separator, and returning all the cellular components (red and white blood cells, platelets) along with either donor plasma or a manufactured replacement solution. This is thought to rid the blood of the substances which are attacking the patient's myelin.

Fairly recently, it has been shown that the use of high doses of immunoglobulin given intravenously (by drip through a needle in a vein) may be just as helpful as plasmapheresis. Immunoglobulin is a substance naturally manufactured by the body's immune system in response to various threats. It is interesting to note that corticosteroid medications (such as prednisone), often the mainstay of anti-autoimmune disease treatment, are not only unhelpful, but may in fact be harmful to patients with GBS.