Clinical observation of allergic contact stomatitis treated with Kangfuxin solution as adjuvant: case report

BACKGROUND: Allergic contact stomatitis (ACS) is common among people with allergic constitution and who have allergy reaction to specific allergen such as drugs, food, and materials because of immune dysfunction. With the development of materials science, the increasing diversity of cosmetics and food additives has gradually raised the incidence rate of ACS. Now systemic and local therapy are adopted in the therapy of ACS. However, the systemic therapy would drop the drugs’ concentration after it reaches the treatment area through the layers of human barriers, while the locally-used drugs such as collutory may not be suitable for patients with skin lesion. Kangfuxin contains a variety of biological extracts which is anti-inflammatory and curative and can produce connective tissues whether it's skin or mucous membrane. It can be used not only in non-oral diseases such as gastric ulcer or gynecological diseases, but also in the treatment of recurrent aphthous ulcer and many kinds of stomatitis and has shown good anti-inflammatory and curative effects. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of Kangfuxin solution as a local-used adjuvant drug to treat ACS. CASE DESCRIPTION: We present a 22-year-old male with ACS whose complaint at the first visit was severe pain, accompanied by salivation, tongue enlargement, bleeding, tonsil enlargement, and symptoms of difficulty in eating, fatigue, and dizziness. After the physical and laboratory examination, we found no abnormalities other than a history of eating the kiwi fruit, which is a common allergen. Thus, he was diagnosed as ACS. In this case, we provided a pharmacologic therapeutic intervention of chlorpheniramine (one tablet, three times a day) and Kangfuxin solution (gargle for 15 min, three times a day) with advice that no exposure to the allergen. On the third day, the patient felt no significant relief of symptoms, while one week after the first visit, the symptoms had obviously alleviated and most of the red lip erosion disappeared. The patient recovered completely with no discomfort in ten days after the initial visit. CONCLUSIONS: This study investigated the therapeutic effect of Kangfuxin solution combined with chlorpheniramine on ACS.