On January 13, the Central Tropical Hospital informed about a case diagnosed with bacterial infection and myelitis after receiving an injection to treat neck and shoulder pain at a private clinic.
The patient was given emergency treatment after experiencing hemiplegia after receiving an injection at a private clinic. (Photo: TT)
A week before being hospitalized, Ms. VTT, 54 years old in Hai Phong , had a fever, was diagnosed with dengue fever and was stable after treatment.
However, when she returned home, Ms. T still felt pain in her neck and shoulders, so her family took her to a private clinic and gave her an injection directly into her neck and shoulders. One day after the injection, Ms. T had a fever again, accompanied by paralysis of both legs that gradually spread to both arms and loss of sensation in the entire area from the waist down. Ms. T was immediately hospitalized with a diagnosis of infection and spondylitis.
Immediately afterwards, Ms. T was transferred to the Emergency Department of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases in a conscious state but completely paralyzed from the neck down. Her arms were paralyzed but she could only move 1/5 of them, and her legs were completely paralyzed. Ms. T also lost all sensation from the waist down, and began to show signs of respiratory muscle paralysis, requiring a ventilator and vasopressor drugs.
Dr. Pham Thanh Bang, Emergency Department, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases said: “Ms. T was diagnosed with sepsis, cervical myelitis with staphylococcal monitoring. The patient was also ordered an MRI scan to detect diffuse spinal cord lesions, spinal edema causing loss of motor and sensory function, consistent with clinical findings, with no signs of cervical spinal abscess, so a multidisciplinary consultation was performed with the indication of spinal decompression and antibiotic treatment. After treatment, the patient's infection was stable, but quadriplegia improved slowly.”
“This is a rare case of myelitis caused by gram-positive bacilli, especially staphylococci. Staphylococci mostly enter through intravenous injection, bacteria directly invade causing diffuse osteomyelitis (not causing meningitis), causing the entire bone marrow to lose function with clinical manifestations of paralysis,” Dr. Bang emphasized.
In addition to medical treatment, Ms. T was treated with a combination of traditional medicine, rehabilitation with electroacupuncture, gentle massage and combined exercise for 2 months after the treatment to stabilize the pulpitis.
Dr. Nguyen Trung Nghia, Department of Traditional Medicine and Rehabilitation, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases said: "With the condition of weak upper limbs, complete flaccid paralysis of lower limbs, loss of superficial and deep sensation in lower limbs, Ms. T was given acupuncture needles at the acupoints in the upper limbs, the Giap Tich acupoints and the lower limbs to stimulate the nervous system and muscles, restoring the patient's motor and sensory functions."
“Up to now, Ms. T has partially recovered her upper limbs and the goal in the coming time is to restore basic upper limb movement so that the patient can move independently in daily activities. Upper limb strength has improved from 1/5 to 3/5. With the lower limbs, from being unable to flex and extend, completely losing the feeling of depth and depth, Ms. T is being supported with rehabilitation with assistive devices so she has the feeling of touch, hot and cold sensation, however the feeling of pain is still not clear,” Dr. Nghia added.
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