Chapter 607 Weird Neck Stiffness, the Simplest Reflex Test Begins
Most of the diseases that cannot be cured by local hospitals are very difficult to treat.
He can't cure every disease.
Sometimes he was also helpless with some strange diseases. But generally speaking, as long as a patient came to him, even if he was not able to cure the disease, he would ask other doctors for help.
The overall strength of Tuya Hospital is still very strong. Except for a few medical fields where it is not very strong, the levels in most other medical fields are very high.
"Well, I'll go take a look first."
Zhou Can could understand the difficulties faced by patients and their families. They came from thousands of miles away to see him and they held great hopes.
The journey was also extremely difficult.
Transporting patients is much more difficult than transporting ordinary people.
"Dingdong, this patient's Guanqiang is now in your care. Yang Zhi, you help him from the side."
After saying that, Zhou Can walked straight out of the operating room.
Normally, doctors in the operating room are reluctant to leave the operating room easily because the use of various sterile consumables will increase.
Not to mention anything else, just the need to wash and change surgical clothes would be a nagging issue for the cleaning lady.
Headgear and gloves are basically disposable, and using them too much can easily lead to unnecessary inspections and troubles.
Zhou Can followed the nurse to the emergency room.
On the flat bed outside the door lay a two or three year old boy, his eyes open, but his arms and legs weakly lying flat. With Zhou Can's professionalism and experience, he could tell at a glance that the boy was already in a state of high paraplegia.
"This is the doctor Zhou Can you are looking for. After hearing about your situation, he stopped his work in the operating room and rushed over to see you. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask Doctor Zhou."
The nurse said to the family.
A total of five family members came.
To be honest, the presence of so many family members is enough to make the doctors extremely cautious.
Too many family members coming often means that if a dispute occurs, the other party will be more numerous and powerful, and the doctor will appear to be relatively weak.
Moreover, with more people and more eyes, the probability of medical disputes will increase.
"Doctor Zhou, we came all the way from the capital to see you after hearing about this from an acquaintance. Could you please see if this child can be cured?"
The first person to speak was a middle-aged man with a big belly. He was wearing black trousers, a purple shirt, and a gold tie. His leather shoes were already covered in dust but he didn't even bother to wipe them off.
Compared with other family members, this middle-aged man and the fashionable young woman behind him did not feel the grief that comes with having a loved one seriously injured, but only anxiety.
Based on Zhou Can's experience in seeing patients, he secretly guessed that these two people were probably not family members.
"Can you first tell me about the child's condition, how he was injured, what symptoms he had after the injury, and whether he has been examined?"
Zhou Can looked at the five family members.
"Doctor Zhou, please save my son! It's all my fault. I shouldn't have taken my child to their playground." A young woman sobbed as she recounted her unfortunate experience, glaring at the pot-bellied man and the fashionable woman. "Many children were playing in their balloon castle. When my son climbed to the top of the castle, a few children blocked his way. He climbed up the guardrail and then unfortunately fell down. It seemed that his head hit the ground first, and he bounced off several times before he stopped moving."
"After the fall, my son didn't cry or make a fuss. He just lay there motionless..."
The little boy's mother still feels extremely guilty and heartbroken when talking about the situation at that time.
"Our inflatable castle has strict safety standards, and the thickness of the air cushion on the ground is more than 50 centimeters. The height of the child's fall was about three meters, and under normal circumstances, there would be no problem at all. Who would have thought that he would be paralyzed after falling down!"
The man with a big belly should be the owner of the inflatable castle.
Talking about this matter, he seemed very aggrieved.
This person is so unlucky that even drinking cold water can get a toothache.
"Young man, my family has only one grandson for three generations. His father is on the front line guarding the border, and I haven't dared to tell him the news yet. Please think of a way to save my grandson."
The old man, whose eyebrows had turned white, came over and begged Zhou Can.
"My son is a high-ranking general. If you can cure my grandson, you will definitely get some benefits!"
The old lady spoke in a rather arrogant tone.
To be honest, no doctor likes to endure this tone from family members.
Some family members, relying on their family's wealth or power, immediately throw money at the doctor. Just treat me, my family can afford any price.
Or, please treat us quickly, someone in my family is an official.
When encountering such a family member, the doctor will not refute them face to face, but he will definitely feel uncomfortable.
Doctors are a sacred profession that saves lives and heals the wounded, and they deserve respect.
Instead of being trampled on by the two powerful weapons of money and power.
The reality is that no matter how skilled a doctor is, he or she is still working for the powerful and wealthy.
"Oh, stop talking. He's a doctor, and he saves people regardless of their social status."
The old man scolded the old lady who was showing off her power.
"The old gentleman is right. The principle we doctors follow is: if someone comes to seek help for illness, we should not ask whether they are noble or humble, rich or poor, old or young, beautiful or ugly, enemies or friends, Chinese or foreign, stupid or wise, we should treat them all equally, as if they were our closest relatives. No matter who they are, when they come to the hospital, they are all called patients."
Zhou Can felt a little better.
I took the opportunity to give this old lady who was showing off her power a scientific education on her worldview.
Not every doctor is afraid of power and will wag his tail when he meets a rich or powerful patient. Most doctors have their own backbone and pride, and adhere to the sacredness in their hearts.
If one day, doctors are forced to bow to power, it will be a tragedy for society.
Because this also means that the distribution of medical resources will become unfair.
It is very necessary to safeguard the interests and dignity of doctors.
"Don't be surprised, young man, the old woman can't speak."
The old man quickly apologized to Zhou Can.
"It's okay. Just explain it clearly." Zhou Can waved his hand. "Have you taken the child to the hospital for a checkup? The medical level in the capital should be the best in the country. Why did you think of bringing the child all the way to Tuya Hospital?"
Zhou Can began to ask the reason.
Doctors not only need to learn how to treat patients, but also need to learn how to protect themselves.
When encountering such patients from other places, it is very necessary to ask clearly.
"Let me tell you!"
The owner of the bouncy castle took over the conversation again.
"After the child fell, we immediately sent him to the nearest large hospital for treatment. After examination, the doctor initially diagnosed him with cervical nerve damage and high paraplegia. The doctor at that hospital recommended that we transfer him to the Imperial Capital Renhe Hospital for treatment."
The cervical vertebrae and the entire spine are rich in blood vessels and nerves, especially the nerves. After emerging from the brain, the nerve trunks in the spine are equivalent to a main nerve trunk.
After millions of years of human evolution, this main nerve trunk is protected within the spinal canal.
Under normal circumstances, it is not easily damaged.
But this type of high fall injury is an exception.
The cervical vertebrae in the neck area are particularly fragile.
"What did the doctor at the Imperial Capital Renhe Hospital say?"
When Zhou Can heard that the child had been to at least two major hospitals, his expression became even more serious.
Renhe Hospital has a special spine research department, neurology department, and surgery department, and the neurosurgery department is also subdivided. It can be said that Renhe Hospital's research in the field of neurology is definitely one of the best in the country.
Even this hospital couldn't cure it, so how could Zhou Can dare to challenge such an extremely difficult case?
I'm afraid it will be difficult to save this child.
"The doctor there shook his head after seeing the child. We gathered experts from multiple departments of Renhe Hospital for a consultation and did conservative treatment for a week, but there was still no effect. I happened to hear a recommendation from a friend that there was a young doctor named Zhou Can in Tuya Hospital who was very capable and might be able to cure the child. After discussing with the family, we finally decided to bring the child here for a checkup."
The owner of the bouncy castle had a bitter look on his face when he said these words.
There were six people in total, who flew from the capital to Tuya Hospital. The travel expenses, accommodation, and meals alone were a considerable expense.
The money he earns from running an inflatable castle in a year may not be enough to treat this child.
"First of all, I must tell you that Renhe Hospital is one of the best hospitals in the country in the field of neurology. Even they said they can't cure it, so we probably can't cure it either. But since you are here, we will definitely do our best. The child's father is guarding the border, and now his child is injured and paralyzed. We doctors are willing to do our best to treat this child and strive to create a medical miracle so that the hero can guard the border with peace of mind."
Zhou Can also expressed his attitude to the few people.
At the same time, they were also given vaccinations.
Doctors often like to exaggerate the severity of the disease and the consequences in the hope of lowering the psychological expectations of the patient's family and family members.
This can minimize medical disputes.
"Thank you, Doctor Zhou! Don't worry about the treatment fee. I will raise the money even if I have to sell everything I have. By the way, our inflatable castle is insured, so the insurance company can pay part of the compensation when the time comes."
The owner of the bouncy castle is trying hard to make up for his mistake.
At least his current attitude makes the family members satisfied.
The fashionable woman hardly spoke a word, as if she was just a vase following behind the boss. No one knew whether she was the boss's wife or secretary.
Zhou Can began to give the child a preliminary physical examination.
The child's limbs were weak, limp, and a little cold to the touch.
This indicates poor peripheral blood circulation.
Nerve damage can affect blood circulation.
Moreover, if the nerves are damaged and cannot be restored for a long time, there will be an even more terrible problem. The muscles of the whole body will gradually atrophy, and eventually, just like patients with ALS, there is almost no possibility of recovery.
It is necessary to intervene early and help patients massage the muscles of the body to maintain muscle vitality and slow down the rate of muscle atrophy as much as possible.
"On what day did the child fall and get hurt?"
"I fell on the 3rd of this month."
"It's been about eight days since the fall, right?"
"right!"
Zhou Can checked the child's condition while asking for relevant information.
The child's neck had no external injuries. When touched, the right side of the neck was stiff to a certain extent, while the left side was soft.
This is a very strange phenomenon.
Because under normal circumstances, neck stiffness does not distinguish between left and right.
Since Zhou Can was able to discover this abnormality, I believe the experts at Renhe Hospital would definitely be able to do so as well.
It is meaningless to infer the cause of this strange phenomenon out of thin air.
He decided to take a look at the test results from Renhe Hospital first.
For example, electromyographic signal conduction test.
This is also a commonly used method of neural pathway testing.
The strength and presence of electromyographic signals can be used to determine whether there are problems with the nerves.
"Did you bring the medical records from the first two hospitals?"
"They are all in these two bags. This is the test done at Chaoyang Hospital. This is the test done at Renhe Hospital."
The child's mother handed two information bags to Zhou Can.
Zhou Can took it and looked at it carefully.
The first hospital performed blood tests, neck CT scans, and electromyography signal tests on the child.
The blood test results were basically normal, with slightly low hemoglobin.
This may be due to anemia in the child.
Many children nowadays are picky eaters and even take snacks as their staple food.
This also causes their bodies to be in a sub-healthy state.
The CT scan of the neck showed no obvious abnormalities, only a slight local hematoma. After eight days of treatment, the hematoma in the child's neck had already disappeared.
It can basically rule out the possibility that neck hematoma compresses the nerves and causes paralysis.
Because if it is really hematoma compression, now that the hematoma is eliminated, the boy's paralysis symptoms will be eliminated little by little.
Renhe Hospital also performed an enhanced CT scan of the boy's head, probably because they were worried that the child had suffered brain trauma.
Unfortunately, still nothing was found.
Zhou Can stared at the child's test results again and again, making detailed comparisons, hoping to find clues.
So many experts have looked at it and found no problems.
After watching for more than twenty minutes, he still found nothing.
There were no external injuries, no abnormalities found in the head or neck, and no fractures or even bone cracks in the neck.
What exactly is the problem?
Faced with this extremely difficult case, Zhou Can felt powerless.
His medical skills are impressive, but they cannot cure every disease.
The only suspicion now is that the cervical spine was severely traumatized during the fall, resulting in blockage of nerve signals to the area below the neck.
"Come, help me hold the child to sit on the edge of the bed. Let his legs hang naturally."
Zhou Can directed the family members to help the child sit up.
You can see that the child's head seems to have lost support, and is drooping forward somewhat weakly.
There were many family members and medical staff watching around, all wanting to see how Dr. Zhou would diagnose the child.
"Who has a hammer? Lend it to me."
Zhou Can asked other medical staff.
"I have it, I have it. Director Zhou , do you think this is okay?"
Dr. Xie rushed to hand Zhou Can a percussion hammer.
The opportunity to please Director Zhou should not be missed.
"Can."
After Zhou Can took it, he smashed it down on the child's knee.
The knee jerk reflex test is not commonly used in clinical medicine, but Zhou Can never makes diagnoses based on common sense, so he used the knee jerk reflex test this time.
