Management of Fever in Children based on Persian Medicine: A Review Study

Background: Pediatric fever is the common cause of consultation in primary care services. Antibiotics that are prescribed widely, are not indicated in most patients. Using non-drug approaches in these situations can be helpful. We aimed to assess the information existing in Persian medical textbook for relieving pediatric fever and search their efficacies based on Conventional Medicine. Materials and Methods: In this review study, data was extracted by searching a recent reliable Persian Medical Encyclopedia, "Exir-e A’zam" that is taught in Persian medical schools, and is the only reference that has a pediatric fever specific chapter. Then related information was searched and extracted from English (Medline, EMBASE and Web of Science, Scopus) and Persian (SID) online databases, based on both Persian and Conventional Medicine. The period of research was between 2000 and 2019. Results: Based on Persian opinion, management of every disease had principles that called "health preservation management" (Tadbir-e-hefz al-sehheh) that was applied in addition to the main treatment. Management that was prescribed for pediatric fever include: evacuation and retention, sleep and wakefulness, manual interventions and nutritional orders. These methods have ingredients that were applied as oral or topical or in life style. In conventional medicine some physical modalities which are used include: ice packs, cooling blankets and sponging. Some medicinal herbs are suggested for relieving fever, after finding the reason for the fever and administering the main treatment. Conclusion: According to this study, Persian medicine has several complementary and alternative methods that can reduce body temperature. Many of them can be effective based up on recent articles and conventional medicine. Further clinical studies are recommended to investigatetheir effectiveness.