Patient V was hospitalized while playing on his phone at night for many hours. He suddenly had severe pain in his cervical spine and felt quadriplegia. He was taken to the emergency room.
Upon examination, the patient was found to be conscious, quadriplegic, with severe paralysis on the right side, with leg strength of 2/5 and arm strength of only 1/5. Accompanied by severe pain in the cervical vertebrae 4-5-6-7. Suspecting a spinal cord involvement in the cervical spine, the doctor ordered an MRI scan for the patient. From there, a large extradural hematoma was discovered on the posterior outer surface of the right cervical spinal cord at the C3-C5 level, causing severe compression of the cervical spinal cord. The patient was diagnosed with primary extradural hematoma of the cervical spinal cord and was scheduled for emergency surgery.
Within 1.5 hours, using a microsurgical microscope and performing surgery with a small incision, the doctors removed the hematoma, stopped the bleeding, relieved pressure on the spinal cord, and the source of bleeding from the posterior venous plexus of the ruptured spinal cord... After the patient was released from anesthesia after surgery, signs of movement and sensation recovered early. On the first day after surgery, the strength of the legs and arms reached 4/5 with good progress. The doctors were happy to know that the surgery was a success. In the post-operative period, the patient was combined with rehabilitation exercises until he fully recovered.
According to Dr. Truong Nhu Hien, Deputy Director of Hoa Binh Provincial General Hospital, 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 detected in young people, especially only 15 years old like the patient above, this is the first time in more than 20 years of working.
It is known that before the onset of the disease, the patient played games on the phone continuously for a long time. During that time, the patient had many strong movements such as shaking and jerking the neck, which according to the patient were done to relieve fatigue. This was also determined by the 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, for people who have the habit of looking down at their phones and tablets for a long time to read messages or play games, causing the head to be pushed forward and increasing pressure on the spine, the blood vessels are stagnant and vulnerable.
