Cure paralysis with nerves taken from the legs

Slipping, her shoulders beating down the house, Ms. Thu, living in Cho Moi, An Giang, thought it was not serious, so she only used rubbing medicine. But 3 days later, her arms completely numb and paralyzed. But now, her hand has moved, thanks to a new technique.

A branch of Ms. Thu's nerves was shaped by doctors of the Department of Microsurgery, Ho Chi Minh City Orthopedic Trauma Hospital and connected to the damaged nerve on the arm. By August 20, a month after surgery, Thu's hand had a feeling. Movement of the leg after being removed from the nerve branch is normal.

Mr. Son said: " In the past, I could not move my arm, but 1 month after the nerve connection surgery, in combination with physiotherapy, I was able to hold many things ."

Dr. Vo Van Chau - Dean of Department of Micro-surgery and Pioneering, a pioneer in neuromuscular transplantation technique in Vietnam, said, since its inception (in 2000) until now, besides Thu , Mr. Son, Khoa Vi department of plastic surgery, Ho Chi Minh City Orthopedic Trauma Hospital treated nearly 500 other patients with very positive results.

"Whether or not the connection is effective depends on the injury. In case of injury only without nerve endings, the patient may recover after 10 weeks, but when the nerve is stretched or broken from the spinal cord, the only way for patients to hold hands is to join nerves, " said Dr. Chau.

Due to long-term monitoring and orthopedic surgery can be performed many times, the cost of treatment depends on the severity of the disease. Once surgery takes about 2 million VND.

According to the City's Center for Orthopedic Trauma, 95% of people with paralysis are caused by falling motorbikes. The accompanying injuries are often broken collarbone, shoulder bone, hand bone or neck spine injury.

Currently, in addition to the HCMC Orthopedic Trauma Center, patients can contact some provincial hospitals such as Nha Trang, Lam Dong, Can Tho, Daklak to be treated.

Thien Chuong