The patient named P.V.D (66 years old, Vinh Long province) was admitted to the hospital in a state of paralysis in the right half of his body.
According to the family, about 3.5 hours after being admitted to the hospital, the patient was doing normal activities when he suddenly had pain in the neck and chest, then numbness and weakness in the right leg.
Through medical history and initial examination, emergency doctors made a preliminary assessment that this was a suspected case of acute cerebral stroke. Immediately, the hospital activated the CODE STROKE process - the emergency procedure for acute stroke patients.
However, after conducting tests and MRI scans, the doctors discovered that the patient had an excretion of blood outside the cervical spine, causing spinal cord compression. The patient was diagnosed with an excretion of the hard - dark spinal cord with acute spinal cord compression.
Doctors held a consultation and decided to perform emergency surgery to remove the blood clot, releasing the spinal cord compress.
The surgery was successful, the patient recovered quickly, and the muscles and limbs almost returned to normal after 5 days of treatment.
Doctor CKII Nguyen Thi Thuy My - Deputy Head of the Emergency Department, Hoan My Cuu Long Hospital - said that a spinal cord stroke is often the result of local anemia originating from an external arteryangeline, which can lead to paralysis and even life-threatening. According to statistics, spinal cord stroke is often rare, accounting for only about 1.25% of all stroke cases.
Symptoms of a spinal stroke include sudden neck and back pain, weak limb paralysis and loss of sensation. Risk factors for the disease include: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, smoking, drinking alcohol and a sedentary lifestyle.
Spinal cord stroke is easily confused with cerebral stroke (which can cause hemiplegia). The important thing is to diagnose accurately and intervene promptly. When brought to the hospital, this patient was diagnosed with the disease early, treated with the right method, and did not miss the "golden time" in treatment.
Through this case, doctors recommend that when abnormal symptoms appear in the body such as unusual pain, changes in blood pressure, weakness in the limbs, patients should be taken to a hospital with a stroke and cardiology specialist for proper diagnosis and timely treatment.
