Wuling San Wan (Chinese: 五苓散丸, Pīnyīn: Wǔlíng sǎn wán) is a blackish-brown pill used in Traditional Chinese medicine to “invigorate the function of the kidney and cause diuresis”.

It is slightly aromatic and tastes slightly pungent. It is used where there is “oliguria, edema and abdominal distension accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, dryness of the mouth but no desire for drink due to dysfunctional activity of bladder-qi, stagnation of endogenous hygrosyndrome inside the body”. The binding agent of the pill is honey.

A retrospective study was conducted at the Department of Neurosurgery of Liaocheng People's Hospital. Patients hospitalized between March 2011 and December 2014 were divided into three groups: Group A received WLSS oral liquid (50 mL), twice a day; Group B received an intravenous infusion of mannitol; and Group C received WLSS combined with mannitol (n = 30 patients per group). All patients were treated for 10 days continuously. Therapeutic efficacy was evaluated by measuring body temperature and indicators of renal function before and 3, 5, and 10 days after treatment. Results. Compared to the other two groups, significantly greater clinical efficacy was observed in the patients treated with mannitol (Group B; P < 0.05), although marked clinical efficacy was also observed over time in patients treated with WLSS (Group A). After 5 days, the quantifiable effects of the WLSS and mannitol combination group (Group C) were substantial (P < 0.05). The renal damage in Group B was more obvious after 5 days and 10 days. Conclusion. Compared with mannitol treatment alone, WLSS combined with mannitol induced a more rapid reduction in body temperature. This findings suggest that patients should be started on mannitol for 3 days and then switched to WLSS to achieve obvious antipyretic effects and protect renal function. This method of treatment should be considered for clinical applications ¹⁾.