The matter I want to talk about today is a real case that happened in Shenzhen recently.
To tell the truth, after reading it, I have to sigh that the body's "distress signal" can really save my life! Although the little boy's illness was a little serious, his luck was really good.
It happened at Shenzhen People's Hospital and was recorded by the latest episode of the doctor's observation documentary "My White Coat".
It was 2:30 p.m. when an ambulance brought in a 7-year-old boy.
His name is XiaoWen (pseudonym), and he was supposed to go to the playground with his parents that day, but when he swung on the swing, he accidentally fell off a half-meter high place and fell into the sand below.
The father said that at the moment of the fall, his son's head "poked a little", and then he cried out the pain in his left chest.
"He almost fainted, and I was afraid he would fall to his cervical spine..." Mom's voice was full of worry.
But this speculation was quickly overturned by Jiang Xihuan, the attending physician in the emergency department.
Because cervical spine injuries are generally neck pain, if the neck nerves are compressed, the ability to move hands and feet will become weaker or even paralyzed, but Xiao Wen's hands and feet can move freely.
Instead, it was the "chest pain" that the child kept saying, which caught his attention.
Considering that CT radiation to children is too large, he recommends taking a chest X-ray first.
"I guess there should be no problem."
However, things are not simple, even experienced doctors are almost careless!
At 3:35 p.m., Dr. Jiang got the report and suddenly his eyes widened:
"There's something wrong with that!"
Chest x-ray showed that Xiaowen had exudative lesions in his chest, that is, some fluid seeped into the alveoli or surrounding tissues.
Since Xiaowen was injured by a fall, Dr. Jiang tended to believe that it was a traumatic wet lung caused by a chest injury.
To find the real culprit, you must do a chest CT!
After 1 hour, the CT results came out, and it was even more terrifying than the doctor expected.
Xiao Wen, who was only 7 years old, had a serious huge lung bullae!
8 * 7 * 5 cm, equivalent to the size of a 280 ml glass, almost occupying the entire lung!
"It's just a fall, how can it fall to the lungs?" Little Mother Wen felt incredulous.
Dr. Jiang shook his head: "It has nothing to do with this, it is not a matter of trauma, the possibility of congenitality is relatively large." ”
The word "bullae", I believe many people have heard of it for the first time, what is it?
Simply put, the "small vesicles" (alveoli) in the lungs fuse into the "large vesicles" (bullae).
Friends who do not understand, you can recall the soap bubbles played when you were a child:
When the air sucked into the lungs cannot be discharged, the alveoli will be blown up like soap bubbles.
A bunch of "small bubbles" together will merge with each other and become "big bubbles" with a diameter of more than 1 centimeter.
(Source: UC Berkeley/LBNL)
In general, most of the people who get this disease are adults, such as young and elderly people with small bronchitis lesions such as chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis, and emphysema.
However, some children will also be recruited, often due to congenital problems such as bronchial dysplasia and cartilage dysplasia, resulting in a part of the bronchi "blocked".
Xiaowen is a typical example:
He has asthma and has been treated with medication. This indicates that his bronchial ventilation is not good for a long time, which may be one of the causes of pulmonary bullae.
But what made Xiao Wen mama strange was: Why had he never cried out chest pain before?
In fact, pulmonary bullae, like many diseases, are quietly doing big things in the human body.
When the "big bubbles" are still relatively small or small, there will be no obvious symptoms at all. This condition generally does not require treatment, but should be closely watched.
Because these "dangerous molecules" are not safe, they will continue to expand, and there is a 50% chance that they will break.
When the lung tissue is pressed around, the patient will have symptoms of chest tightness, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing. But Xiaowen has asthma, even if there are symptoms, it has been covered!
After that, the "big bubble" will burst out, secondary spontaneous pneumothorax, infection, etc., then there will be chest pain, hemoptysis, serious and even life-threatening! At this time, it must be surgically removed.
Without further ado, Dr. Jiang immediately called a thoracic surgeon for consultation.
Speaking of this, Xiao Wen's mother cried in fear and kept wiping her tears. Dr. Jiang deliberately went to the corridor to comfort her, and Cai Wanna, a doctor in the emergency department, was also comforting Xiaowen.
Finally, after consultation, Xiaowen was diagnosed with congenital bullae and was recommended to be transferred to Shenzhen Children's Hospital for surgery.
Afterwards, Dr. Jiang sighed: "That little child was lucky, early detection and early treatment." ”
Oh, yes. From the perspective of Sai Weng's lost horse, Xiaowen's parents should really be grateful for this wrestling.
If it weren't for the crooked beating coming to the hospital and finding this "time bomb", the consequences would be unimaginable!
Here is also a special reminder to parents with asthmatic children, if the child has chest pain symptoms, be sure to go to the hospital in time to check for complications such as bullae and pneumothorax.
Although there are more and more parents of Xiaowen's parents who are finely bred, there are also some parents, especially those raised by the older generation, who hear children say where the pain is, they are always very dismissive, and even reprimanded, "Where is the waist pain in the child's family, I see that your ass hurts." ”
This incident also reminds us not to ignore the distress signal sent by the body!
If a certain part of the area is suddenly very painful and painful all the time, don't just think of it as a small problem. Going to the hospital right away is not a waste of time, it is a responsibility for yourself and your family's body.
*The content of this article is a popularization of health knowledge and cannot be used as a specific diagnosis and treatment recommendation, nor is it a substitute for face-to-face consultation by a practicing physician, for reference only.
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