"Advanced age" has always been regarded as a "no-go zone" for surgery. The elderly have reduced physiological function, complex underlying diseases, and severe postoperative trauma stress, which can easily induce various complications in the perioperative period, leading to organ failure and increasing the risk of death. It is a serious challenge for patients and their families, as well as for the surgeon and the entire medical team.
Not long ago, Fujian Medical University was affiliated to ***
The team of director Wang Zhenyu of the Department of Orthopedics helped a 90-year-old man through surgery.
Get out of your wheelchair and resume walking.
A 90-year-old man has numbness in his lower limbs and is unable to walk
1 cm minimally invasive surgery to relieve nerve compression
5 years ago,Grandma Liu suffers from severe lumbar spinal stenosis and senile spinal hunchback deformity, and gradually develops pain in the lower back and legs, and the numbness symptoms of both lower limbs are getting worse and worse, and she has been unable to walk on the ground for nearly half a yearIt is wheelchair accessible.
Recently, Grandma Liu found the team of Director Wang Zhenyu of the Department of Orthopedics of Fuyi *** Qishan Campus. Through a detailed physical examination and reading, Director Wang Zhenyu found that the "culprits" were actually two lumbar vertebrae segmentsAs long as the nerve compression in these two places can be accurately and minimally invasively relieved, the elderly can be given a healthy spine.
After perfecting various examinations, Director Wang Zhenyu and Deputy Director Lin Hailin, a member of the team, applied dual-media spinal endoscopic technology to relieve the nerve compression of the two segments by opening two 1 cm small openings on the spine.
Grandma Liu's two 1 cm surgical incisions.
The operation field is clear during the whole operation, and the amount of blood loss is only 10 ml. After Grandma Liu returned to the general ward after surgery, she felt that the numbness and pain in her lower limbs had improved significantly. Two days after the operation, Grandma Liu walked under the protection of a walker.
Minimally invasive spinal endoscopy solves problems
Numbness in the legs should be suspected
Director Wang Zhenyu introduced that lumbar spinal stenosis is a degenerative disease of the spine that is common in the elderly, which is characterized by narrowing of the bony diameter of the lumbar spinal canal, nerve root canal or intervertebral foramen, or the reduction of lumen volume caused by soft tissues, thereby compressing the spinal cord and nerve roots, resulting in pain, numbness, weakness and other symptoms in the buttocks or lower limbs.
For advanced patientsSymptoms usually get worse gradually, and you have to squat and rest for a while before you can continue walkingThis phenomenon is also called intermittent claudicationIn severe cases, symptom relief may be achieved only with surgical decompression.
However, in the past, it was difficult for most elderly patients to undergo traditional open surgery** due to their older age or other medical conditions (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, etc.). As a result, many older people have to endure pain, limited mobility, and even be bedridden.
With the continuous development of spinal endoscopic surgery, endoscopic unilateral approach bilateral spinal decompression surgery (ENDO-ULBD) has become the preferred minimally invasive technique for lumbar spinal stenosis in the elderly, with many advantages such as less trauma, less bleeding, faster recovery, fewer complications and lower cost.
On the basis of mastering the traditional spinal endoscopy (intervertebral foraminoscopy) technology, relying on the most powerful multidisciplinary comprehensive strength, the orthopedic team of Fuyi Medical Association and Qishan Campus began to use the latest dual-media spinal endoscopic minimally invasive technology (DMSE) to relieve complex spinal diseases for elderly patients at the beginning of 2023, which has relieved the pain of dozens of elderly patients for many years, and at the same time, the technology has also been approved as "2023 *** new technology and new project".
Director Wang Zhenyu is performing dual-media spinal endoscopic surgery.
Director Wang Zhenyu reminded that the early symptoms of lumbar spine diseaseMainly due to paraesthesia such as numbness and pain in the legs, limb weakness, urinary and urinary dysfunction gradually appear, and in severe cases, it can lead to paralysis and greatly threaten health. If you feel discomfort in the lumbar spine, you should go to a regular hospital as soon as possible.