Treating spinal pain with 'folk experience', patient almost became permanently paralyzed

On April 28, information from the Vietnam - Cuba Dong Hoi Friendship Hospital (Quang Binh) said that the hospital had successfully performed surgery on a patient who was nearly permanently paralyzed.

A 53-year-old female patient residing in Ba Don Town (Quang Binh) had symptoms of back pain and difficulty walking for the past 6 months. After visiting a hospital, the female patient was diagnosed with a mild disc herniation and was prescribed surgery.

Nữ bệnh nhân suýt bị liệt vĩnh viễn do chữa bệnh bằng phương pháp dân gian — Female patient almost permanently paralyzed due to folk remedies

However, after taking medicine for a while but not getting better, this patient was "advised" by friends to use leaves (unknown type of leaves) for compresses. Initially, the symptoms of the disease subsided but then relapsed, with pain from the hips down to the legs, weakness in both legs, difficulty walking, and incontinence. The family continued to buy medicine for the patient to take and warmed his feet over a fire to create a feeling.

On April 19, the female patient was admitted to the Vietnam - Cuba Friendship Hospital in Dong Hoi with burns and complete paralysis of both legs. After examination, doctors suspected that the patient had thoracic spinal cord disease, so they ordered an MRI scan of the thoracic spine, which revealed a tumor compressing the thoracic spinal cord.

The patient was then scheduled for a semi-emergency microsurgical enucleation of the spinal cord tumor. After nearly 3 hours of surgery, the surgery was completed. One week after the surgery, the patient's condition improved, he was able to walk and had independent bowel and bladder control.

According to Dr. Nguyen Van Man, Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Vietnam - Cuba Friendship Hospital in Dong Hoi, many cases of lumbar spine pain have been treated with the wrong method, which not only wastes time and increases treatment costs, but also makes the condition worse.

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