Spinal tuberculosis, man thought his life would be tied to bed forever

When diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis, although surgery was indicated, due to financial difficulties, Mr. S. only used medication and physical therapy. However, these solutions only provided temporary pain relief, and the pain continued and became more severe, and the spine became increasingly curved.

The climax was in the past month, his back pain was so bad that he could not sit up or walk, just lie in one place, and lost a lot of weight. He thought his life would be tied to the bed forever.

Vertebral destruction

Through an acquaintance's recommendation, his family took him to Xuyen A General Hospital (HCMC) for examination. At the Neurosurgery Clinic, Mr. S. was ordered by doctors to have an MRI scan of the spine, the results showed signs of L2 - L3 bone destruction, L1 - S1 lumbar scoliosis. The destroyed bone causes bone instability and progressive hunchback, if left for a long time, it will compress the spinal canal, causing nerve damage leading to paralysis of both legs, sensory disturbances, and urinary disorders. Therefore, the doctors consulted and planned surgery to fix Mr. S's bones.

Mr. S. on the day of discharge from the hospital

PHOTO: BSCC

On April 19, Master - Doctor Tran Vu Hoang Duong, Head of the Department of Cranio-Spine 2, Xuyen A General Hospital, said that patient S. had a destroyed L2 - L3 vertebrae compressing the spinal canal, but fortunately there were no signs of nerve compression, only signs of back pain and spinal instability. In this case, we chose to perform surgery to fix the spine with screws from the thoracic segment D10 down to the sacral spine S1, and for the destroyed bone, we cut the 2 vertebrae L1, L2 and installed a cage to fuse the bone to make it stiff.

Spinal tuberculosis surgery is a complicated case.

According to Dr. Duong, spinal tuberculosis surgery is a complicated procedure, helping to remove most of the abscess, cut off the damaged vertebral body caused by tuberculosis bacteria and replace it with an artificial bone. The surgery requires full and thorough preparation of equipment, close coordination between highly skilled surgeons and an experienced anesthesia team. Because the tissue structures attacked by tuberculosis often cause a lot of bleeding and spread the abscess near important nerve and blood vessel structures. The post-operative treatment process also needs to be meticulous, strictly adhere to anti-tuberculosis to avoid drug resistance, and at the same time, there needs to be coordination in wound care and active physical therapy.

After the surgery, Mr. S.'s back pain was significantly improved and he recovered well. Just 4 days after the surgery, he was able to walk and move normally.

Vietnam is one of the countries with a high tuberculosis prevalence rate in the population.

Dr. Duong said that Vietnam is one of the countries with a high prevalence of tuberculosis in the population, including pulmonary tuberculosis and extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Spinal tuberculosis is a form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, which occurs when tuberculosis bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) attack the vertebrae, most commonly in the thoracic and lumbar spine. This disease causes bone destruction, cold abscesses, spinal deformities (kyphosis) and can lead to spinal cord compression, causing paralysis if not treated promptly.

Treatment of spinal tuberculosis includes anti-tuberculosis according to the standard regimen of the Ministry of Health, and surgery is indicated when there is nerve compression causing paralysis or spinal deformity. After surgery, the patient should lie in the correct position, limit turning around or lifting heavy objects, and limit lying in a hammock for quick recovery.

In particular, if people have symptoms such as prolonged back pain, pain when changing posture, numbness in the limbs, weakness in both legs or tumors in the back, hunchback, they should go to the doctor early to have a timely treatment plan, thereby bringing about the desired treatment effect.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lao-cot-song-nguoi-dan-ong-nghi-cuoc-doi-se-gan-lien-voi-chiec-giuong-mai-mai-185250418211501278.htm