Male student had to be rushed to the emergency room due to quadriplegia after playing games for hours

According to information from Hoa Binh General Hospital, this facility has just received treatment for a case of a rare disease in a young person.

The patient is BQV (15 years old, from Tan Lac, Hoa Binh) who was hospitalized at the end of September. According to the story, this male student was playing with his phone at night for many hours when he suddenly had severe pain in his cervical spine and felt quadriplegia. His family discovered this and rushed him to the emergency room.

At the hospital, through examination, the patient had severe paralysis on the right side with leg strength of 2/5 and arm strength of only 1/5, accompanied by severe pain in cervical vertebrae 4-5-6-7.

The patient is tested for movement after surgery. Photo: BVCC

Suspecting that the patient had a spinal cord injury in the cervical spine, the doctor ordered an MRI scan, which revealed a large extradural hematoma on the right posterior aspect of the cervical spinal cord, severely compressing the spinal cord. The patient was diagnosed with a primary extradural hematoma of the cervical spinal cord and was scheduled for emergency surgery.

The surgery lasted 1.5 hours, using a microsurgical microscope and a small incision. After surgery, the patient underwent rehabilitation exercises until fully recovered.

According to Dr. Truong Nhu Hien - Deputy Director of Hoa Binh Provincial General Hospital, Head of Neurosurgery Department, spinal epidural hematoma is a rare disease, often overlooked clinically, the cause is often due to malformation of the extradural vascular system or trauma. Early detection and timely treatment are needed to avoid serious complications due to hematoma causing spinal cord compression. The disease is common in the elderly, with underlying diseases such as high blood pressure, severe spinal degeneration... However, the disease is very rare in young people, especially those only 15 years old like the patient above.

According to the patient's family, before the onset of the disease, the male student played games on his phone continuously for many hours. During that time, the patient had many strong movements such as shaking and jerking his neck to relieve fatigue. This was also determined by doctors to be the main cause of the cervical spine being suddenly impacted with strong force, causing damage to the blood vessels, compressing the cervical spinal cord. On the other hand, people who have the habit of looking down at their phones and tablets for a long time to read messages or play games cause the head to be pushed forward and increase pressure on the spine, causing stagnant blood vessels to be easily damaged.

From the above case, Dr. Hien recommends that people with underlying diseases accompanied by pain, limited neck and shoulder movement or frequent numbness and pain spreading to the arms/legs... should be consulted by specialists and can be screened by MRI to promptly detect abnormalities of the spine.

In daily life, exercise and work, doctors recommend that people keep their spine in the most comfortable physiological position, without being constrained. When lying down, do not use high pillows, avoid keeping the cervical spine in a bent or flexed position for long periods of time.

Especially for office workers who have to sit for long periods of time, it is necessary to take a break every 30-45 minutes of work. For people with neck and shoulder pain, they should not arbitrarily or let others perform sudden twisting, jerking, shaking movements or intentionally perform a certain movement to make a sound.

If there are signs of pain that require neck immobilization, family members should take the patient to the nearest medical facility with a specialized neurology department as soon as possible for examination and treatment.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/nam-sinh-phai-cap-cuu-do-liet-tu-chi-khi-choi-game-trong-nhieu-gio.html