Shanghai Fourth Hospital Minimally Invasive Treatment Solves Its Problems, 92 Year Old Korean War Veteran Suffering from Enduring Back Pain | Mr. | Shanghai Fourth Hospital
Mr. Li, a 92 year old veteran of the Korean War, experienced unbearable back pain. The Pain Department of the Fourth People's Hospital of Shanghai, affiliated with Tongji University, used minimally invasive treatment to solve his pain problem. Recently, Mr. Li has recovered and been discharged from the hospital.
Half a month ago, Mr. Li accidentally fell and suffered from lower back pain. He couldn't get up and even found it difficult to turn over. Mr. Li took X-rays and CT scans at the hospital, but no obvious damage was found. I went home to rest for a week, but the situation did not improve. His family then took him to the Pain Department of Shanghai Fourth Hospital for treatment.
The deputy chief physician who received the consultation, Zhang Xin, learned that Mr. Li was a veteran of the Korean War. He joined the logistics unit of the East China Military Region in May 1951 and went to the Korean battlefield in December of the same year. He returned to China in December 1953. Mr. Li is physically strong and has a strong personality. He usually does not speak in pain, but this time his back pain is particularly severe, and his overall mental state has suddenly deteriorated significantly. My family is very anxious.
After careful examination, Zhang Xin arranged a magnetic resonance imaging for Mr. Li, and it was found that there was a compression fracture in the 12th thoracic vertebra.
Zhang Xin introduced that compression fractures are not uncommon in the elderly, especially those with osteoporosis, due to a decrease in bone mass and an increase in spinal fragility. This type of fracture does not require a lot of violence. In daily life such as sneezing, moving a flowerpot, drying clothes, or bumpy journeys, slight physical exertion can lead to it. The fracture of the vertebral trabecular bone, bone marrow edema, exudation, and decreased mechanical strength are all comprehensive pain causing factors that can cause severe pain when the patient's trunk exerts force, leading to a state of "loss of function due to pain".
On that day, Mr. Li was admitted to the hospital and received minimally invasive treatment under local anesthesia the next day. The doctor injects bone cement into the injured vertebrae through two small needle channels that are a few millimeters long, to strengthen the injured vertebrae. In less than an hour, minimally invasive treatment was successfully completed. On the second day of minimally invasive treatment, the old man was able to stand up and move freely, and walk down the ground.
"Bone pain, height reduction, and brittle fractures are the three main symptoms of osteoporosis. Once they occur, it is difficult to reverse, and early diagnosis and treatment are very important." Chen Hui, director of the Pain Department of Shanghai Fourth Hospital, introduced that Mr. Li's pain problem is a representative clinical problem among the elderly population of osteoporosis today, including various specific manifestations such as decreased spinal bone strength, deformation, and compression fractures, which can also be called "painful" osteoporosis. The removal of "disability due to pain" will significantly improve the quality of life and release the pressure of family care.