Chapter 1462: Progressive Paralysis Again?

Chapter 1462: Chapter 1462: Progressive Paralysis Again?

(Thanks to Dongchan, Shenyiyangdemen, Maoerwangyue for the monthly ticket encouragement)

"What’s the specific situation?"

After approaching, Liu Banxia asked.

"Teacher Liu, the child is a little over 4 years old, sitting in the back seat. After the car accident, they experienced a rebound impact. Currently, the physical examination is normal, but the child has lost the ability to move their legs," Huang Bo hurriedly said.

"Did you get an X-ray of the cervical vertebrae?" Liu Banxia asked.

"I asked the child, and they said their neck and head don’t hurt. They can shake their head without any trouble. I didn’t want to make a presumptive judgment, so I came to you," Huang Bo said.

"Doctor, what’s going on? Please don’t frighten us," the child’s mother asked nervously.

"Don’t worry, we’ve just begun the diagnosis. We need to do more examinations," Liu Banxia said.

After speaking, Liu Banxia began testing the child’s muscle strength.

The child is a bit chubby, but communicating with Liu Banxia during the muscle strength test was fine, although the muscle response was not great.

Liu Banxia thought for a moment, removed the child’s socks, and gently pricked with a needle.

This time, the little patient showed some reaction, but still lacked the ability for voluntary movement.

"Doctor, have you found anything?"

The child’s mother asked again.

"The child still lacks voluntary movement ability. Were there any unusual behaviors before the accident?" Liu Banxia asked.

"No, recently, they’ve been staying at their grandma’s place, and we just brought them back today," the child’s mother said.

"Maybe from staying in the countryside too long, they haven’t been active or eating well. But coming back today, they were very happy and talked to me a lot."

"Little one, can you tell uncle if you feel uncomfortable anywhere else?" Liu Banxia asked the little patient.

The little patient shook their head directly.

"Let’s take a CT of the head and spine," Liu Banxia said.

"Doctor, is there a problem with the spine?" The child’s mother’s face changed instantly.

"Don’t worry yet. The child’s situation might be due to fright after the collision. We are doing a spinal CT to rule this out," Liu Banxia reassured.

"You also saw before, when I stimulated the child’s sole, there was still a reaction. We’ve encountered similar cases before, mostly due to psychological factors."

"Don’t rush; we’ll proceed step by step. Huang Bo, check if there are any critical patients ahead in the CT queue. If not, arrange for an urgent scan. Also, perform an EEG scan,"

Huang Bo nodded.

Liu Banxia really found it difficult to make a precise judgment about this little patient’s condition.

If this were an adult, Liu Banxia might diagnose them as faking the illness.

Unless the collision injured the cervical vertebrae or spine, causing paralysis-like symptoms.

But if that were the case, the neck and spine usually would feel painful.

Currently, the child moves their upper body freely; only their legs lack voluntary response.

There’s also the possibility of actual conditions where even stimulating the lower limbs won’t elicit a response.

If this were an adult, combined with the car accident factor, one might lean towards suspecting they are pretending for more compensation.

But this is a little patient; they don’t have such thoughts. It’s in a hospital, not at home, where they could practice.

Just stepping outside, another young man was waiting anxiously.

After inquiring briefly, Liu Banxia learned it was a chain rear-end collision.

This young man failed to brake due to negligence and will bear full responsibility for the accident.

Although there’s insurance, if something really goes wrong with the child, the insurance coverage might not be enough.

"How are the other patients?" After approaching Qi Wentai, Liu Banxia asked.

"Everyone else is fine, but they want to get a head CT for safety," Qi Wentai said.

"I’ve heard the impact was significant, many hit their heads several times against the headrests, which increases the risk. How about that little one?"

"Currently still unsure, legs show no voluntary response, but stimuli elicit reactive behavior," Liu Banxia said.

"Get a CT first, then perform an EEG. We need to determine if it’s brain-related or due to spine or lower limb issues."

"This is quite challenging to judge; could they be faking?" Qi Wentai asked.

"I also had that inclination initially, but upon further consideration, probably not. It’s a little child; often, they can’t endure the needle despite it being an exam."

"But correlating symptoms with such paralysis, many conditions could arise. My biggest concern is a vascular tumor within the spinal cord, causing rupture and compressing nerves via a small hemorrhage."

"Handled similar patients before, which was quite troublesome. Hopefully, it’s just excessive fright causing psychogenic pseudo-paralysis."

"If that’s the case, it’s really troublesome. Should we just get Director Xiao over here?" Qi Wentai asked.

"Let’s check first. Anyway, the child definitely isn’t faking it. There’s really a problem," Liu Banxia said.

The reasoning is still the same. If the child was actually faking it just now, then this little friend is really talented. Perhaps in the future, they could win an award for Best Actor or something.

However, Liu Banxia’s intuition still told him that the child wasn’t faking it and that the symptoms were real.

In his heart, he leaned more towards a spinal issue.

He had also observed the child’s mental state just now. It didn’t seem like the car accident scared them. The pseudo-paralysis caused by that cardiac-origin reason didn’t hold up either.

The reason he didn’t perform a skeletal examination on the young patient was to avoid further aggravating the injury during the process.

"Teacher Liu, are you going to grab a meal later?"

At this moment, Liu Yiqing walked over.

"You guys go ahead. I still have to wait for the test results for this child," Liu Banxia said.

"I see that your patients don’t have much going on. By the time their scans come out, you’ll be done eating. Go ahead, have the braised pork arranged?"

"Yes, Nuonuo called Manager Zhou quite early," Liu Yiqing said.

It’s not that they can’t afford meat, but the meat snatched from Liu Banxia always tastes better.

Liu Banxia nodded. Today he would dine during the second shift, and he also needed to study the condition of this young patient.

Primarily because the child was completely normal before the car accident and only showed these symptoms afterward. He kept thinking about it and still felt that a spinal issue was more possible.

But after the earlier consultation with another young patient this morning, he really didn’t want to hear any more bad news.

This is also a young child, even younger than the other patient. If there’s really a spinal issue, it would cause a significant impact.

"What are you thinking about?"

At this moment, Wang Chao walked over.

"Nothing much. Why aren’t you having your meal?" Liu Banxia asked.

"No worries, there’s plenty of braised pork today. I’m coming with you for the second wave," Wang Chao casually said.

"I’m just curious, why do you guys enjoy scheming to get some food from me so much?" Liu Banxia said helplessly.

"Of course! The Big Demon King is so formidable, we can only plan these small gains," Wang Chao said with a smile.

His honesty left Liu Banxia speechless.

Just then, Liu Banxia’s phone rang. Seeing it was Huang Bo calling, he hurriedly answered, "Speak."

"Teacher Liu, there’s a new development with the child’s symptoms. Now his arms can’t move either," Huang Bo’s voice came through.

"The arms can’t move either? Where are you now?" Liu Banxia asked.

"At the door of the CT room, there are three patients ahead of us," Huang Bo said.

"Wait for me, I’m coming over right away," Liu Banxia said.

This situation was unexpected. When he checked the child earlier, the upper limb function was fine. How did it worsen?

He’s dealt with progressively paralyzed patients before, but the causes were different from this young friend’s case.

Could it be caused by a tick again? The child did have a history of living in the countryside.

However, it’s not tick season with the current weather. Even if they’re in the countryside, a child this age would mostly stay at home.

These were the nonsensical thoughts popping into his head as he rushed to the CT room door, where he saw the child’s mother crying.

"Teacher Liu, I just tested it; the situation is the same as with the lower limbs," Huang Bo said.

"Once the person inside is done, let’s proceed directly," Liu Banxia said.

"Sorry everyone, the child’s situation is a bit special. Initially, his legs were paralyzed, and now his arms too. The condition has progressed so quickly."

The people in line were understanding and didn’t argue over this matter.

They could see and hear the conversation between Liu Banxia and Huang Bo. The problem was indeed severe for this young child.

Liu Banxia was equally anxious, and as he waited for the patient in front to finish, he began checking the child’s scalp to see if ticks were hidden there. Just in case?

"Teacher Liu, there’s an issue with the child’s breathing,"

Before he could finish checking, Huang Bo shouted, with a hint of panic in his voice.

Liu Banxia was startled, quickly taking out his stethoscope to examine the child’s breathing.

"Get a puncture needle, pleural effusion, intubation is too invasive," Liu Banxia said.

After speaking, a fine layer of sweat appeared on his brow.