Hammod Omar-Spinal cord injury(Saudi Arabia) Posted on January 30, 2010

Name: Hammod Omar   
Gender: Male 
Age: 17
Country: Saudi Arabia
Diagnosis: Spinal cord injury
Admission Date: 2009-12-11
Admission Days: 33

Medical History:
Hammod was involved in a traffic accident in January of 2009. After the accident, he was presented with akinesia in all four limbs, sensory loss, and the inability to relieve his bowels. He was then sent to a local hospital for an X-ray examination. The results: A fracture of the 4-5 cervical vertebra and right hip. Hammod received sensory deprivation treatment; however there was no real improvement in his condition. One month later, he received a cervical vertebra 5-6 anterior internal fixation, along with the right thighbone, with the use of an intra-medullary rod. After the operation, Hammod was able to move his upper limbs slightly. Four months later, he received rehabilitation training, and soon after the movement and flexibility of both upper limbs had increased slightly. He took some oral medication and injections of anticoagulants to decrease the muscle tone. His overall emotional state improved as well. At the same time he received a cystostomy. There is some sensation of heat in the left thigh, but the exact amount is ambiguous.
The family had learned about our hospital and the stem cell treatment that we do here and later consulted with our doctors about what could be done for their son. After the consultation, they made the decision to come here for treatment.

Nervous System Examination:
Hammod was alert and in good spirits. His speech was clear. His memory, calculation and orientation abilities were all normal. Both pupils were equal in size and round, the diameter was 3.0mm and reacted normally to light stimulus. His eyeballs had flexible movement. The forehead pattern was symmetrical. The tongue was centered in the middle of the oral cavity and the teeth were shown without deflection. The neck could move flexibly. The muscle strength of the upper right limb was level 3-; the muscle strength of the upper left limb was also level 3-; the muscle strength of the fingers of the right hand was level 4; the muscle strength of the fingers of the left hand was level 4-. The fingers of both hands had difficulty with movement. The muscle strength of both lower limbs was level 0. The muscle tone of both upper limbs and the lower right limb was near normal, while the muscle tone of the lower left limb was higher than normal. With passive activity, the convulsions were noticeable. There was obvious muscle atrophy in all four limbs. The tendon reflexes of all four limbs were normal; the abdominal reflex was abnormal.
Superficial sensory slow down at the right C6-T3 stage and the pain and vibration sensation at the T3 stage had disappeared. Shallow hypoesthesia at the left C5-T3 stage. The bilateral Hoffmann's sign was negative, bilateral palm jaw reflex was negative, sucking reflex was negative, bilateral Babinski's sign was negative. Hammod could not successfully perform the finger to nose test. He had problems with the rapid rotation test as well as the Heel-knee-shin test, showing instability in his legs. There were no signs of meningeal irritation.

Treatment:
Hammod was given treatment in order to expand the blood vessels, nourish the neurons, activate the neural stem cells, and this treatment was combined with rehabilitation therapy.

Post-treatment:
The elevating ability of the upper right limb has noticeably improved. The level of sensation has improved one segment. Occasionally, Hammod's lower limbs have involuntary movement, and there are muscle contractions in the inner thigh. Before being discharged, Hammod said to the doctor: "I almost had no consciousness before the treatment, but now the muscle strength in my legs has increased, and my reactions to outside stimuli are stronger. My condition has improved generally, and I believe I will make more progress in the future. The level of the quality of medical treatment in China is higher than in Saudi Arabia and the doctors and nurses were all very kind to me. I will continue with the rehabilitation training. I hope I will be able to come back for the second treatment."

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