Chronic pain patients are being examined by doctors at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital - Photo: BVCC
On the afternoon of April 9, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital announced that the neurosurgery department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital had successfully treated a patient with chronic nerve pain that had lasted for 18 years.
Complete paralysis of the right arm
That is Mr. NVT, 56 years old, living in Ho Chi Minh City. In May 2021, Mr. T. went to the chronic pain clinic - neurosurgery department of University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital for examination in a state of pain, numbness and stiffness in the entire shoulder, arm and right hand.
Mr. T. complained that he was in great pain and despair because he had been in persistent and increasingly severe pain since a traffic accident 18 years ago.
After the accident, Mr. T. was completely paralyzed in his right arm and had to depend on his family for all his daily activities, eating and drinking.
Mr. T. tried hard to practice and was able to move his left hand. However, after only 5 - 6 months, the pain appeared with numbness and stiffness in the entire shoulder, arm down to the hand, the pain appeared continuously with increasing intensity and frequency.
Mr. T. went to many places for examination and treatment. At first, the pain reduced but it became more and more severe. Mr. T. had to increase the dose of painkillers to the maximum allowable level.
At the neurosurgery department, doctors diagnosed Mr. T. with chronic nerve pain due to sequelae of damage to the right brachial plexus. The hospital's doctors quickly consulted with experienced specialists from Singapore and Thailand.
After consultation, Mr. T. was prescribed a spinal cord stimulation electrode to treat pain. After the experimental electrode placement surgery, Mr. T. responded with over 50% pain relief. Doctors then permanently placed electrodes in the epidural space of the neck to control pain and stiffness.
During the first year, Mr. T. responded well to treatment and no longer had to endure the "excruciating pain" as before.
But as the disease progressed, the pain became increasingly difficult to control. Doctors tried every way to adjust the appropriate regimen but there was no improvement. The patient fell into despair again. Doctors continued to consult and control the patient's pain with morphine, rTMS, Scrambler... but there was no response.
New technology deployment , chronic pain treatment
To treat the patient, in December 2023, the hospital's neurosurgeons decided to implement the "DREZotomy" technique to relieve pain.
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Minh Anh, head of the hospital's neurosurgery department, said that "DREZotomy" is a technique that removes pain transmission connections at the level of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, where it enters the sensory nerve roots, changing the spinal reflex arc to reduce pain and stiffness.
MSc. Dr. Do Trong Phuoc, from the hospital's neurosurgery department, said that immediately after surgery, the patient's pain was reduced by 70 - 80%, with almost no more cramps in the hand, only pain at the surgical site.
The first follow-up visit one month after surgery showed that the postoperative condition was stable, the surgical wound was dry, healed well, and there were almost no more arm cramps. The patient's sleep improved significantly. The patient's spirit was increasingly optimistic, he ate well, and gained 2kg.
"I feel like I'm living again," Mr. T. confided. Currently, 3 months after the DREZotomy surgery, the patient is gradually reducing the dose of pain medication and continues to have regular check-ups so that the doctor can monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment.
More than 30% of Ho Chi Minh City residents suffer from chronic pain.Source
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