Although the 86-year-old man surnamed Wang is old, he is energetic and can move around on weekdays. However, he is always troubled by numbness in his limbs. Especially while sleeping, numbness seriously affects the quality of his sleep. They often need to hold hands to feel better. After receiving high-dose vitamin B12 intravenous infusion and laminoplasty surgery at Miaoli Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan, the numbness improved significantly.
Miaoli Hospital said that when the old man went to bed at night, he would often wake up due to paralysis and have difficulty going back to sleep. A few months ago, he was introduced by a friend and learned that Miaoli Hospital had high dose Vitamin B12 drip treatment method for paralysis, so he asked Dr. Wu Shengwen of the Department of Neurosurgery of the hospital, after consultation, the doctor found That the patient’s spinal cord has deteriorated significantly. In addition to rehabilitation, he also administered weekly high-dose vitamin B12 infusions. However, improvement in paralysis was limited. After MRI examination of the cervical spine, it was found that the old man’s cervical spinal canal was severely stenotic in several segments. In principle, surgery is necessary for spinal cord injuries, but considering the age of the elderly, it is better to arrange rehabilitation first and maintain high-dose B12 injections.
After three months of treatment, the patient still felt unwell and expressed a desire to undergo surgery. The doctor considered the patient’s advanced age and arranged for a cardiopulmonary evaluation first. Surprisingly, the old man had very good cardiopulmonary function and was much younger than his actual age, so they performed a cervical laminectomy on the patient. In plastic surgery, the patient is made to lie down after anesthesia and his head is immobilized. The lesion is behind the cervical spine. A neurosurgery high-powered microscope is used to open the lamina of a severely compressed section, much like opening the back door of a house. It extends the spine and allows the spinal canal to move completely reducing pain. Press the area into place, and then use bone plates to fix the open lamina. This allows multi-segment cervical stenosis to be treated at one time. It is less invasive than a typical laminectomy and may also reduce the risk of future cervical spine deformity.confusion,
The hospital said the elderly man underwent laminoplasty surgery, which lasted for about 3 hours. The amount of bleeding was very less. After the operation, he was treated by the neurosurgery and anesthesia team and returned directly to the general ward for recovery. May he be healthy. Get out of bed on the second day after the operation. The drainage tube was removed and he was discharged from the hospital after 3 days. During outpatient follow-up, the patient stated that his numbness had significantly improved and that he was very happy. have a good sleep.
Wu Shengwen said that hand numbness is the early manifestation of cervical spine lesions, and high-dose B12 infusion has a very good effect on numbness; If it is severe spinal cord compression at multiple levels, subsequent laminoplasty surgery can provide good decompression and healing, although older people can also undergo surgery under careful evaluation by the medical team. Patients with associated problems are reminded to seek treatment from a neurosurgeon and not to wait until the spinal cord is severely damaged before surgery, as there will be greater risks.
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