Paralysis of both legs due to inhaling laughing gas

The Department of Neurology - Musculoskeletal, Phu Tho General Hospital has just received a 16-year-old female patient from Vinh Phuc with weakness in both upper limbs, paralysis of both lower limbs, and inability to walk after using 15 laughing gas balloons.

Through medical history, the patient said that he was previously healthy, but 2 weeks ago he used 15 "laughing gas" balls within 3 days. After that, the patient experienced numbness in all four limbs, frequent cramps, decreased sensation in both limbs, legs felt heavier than arms, and progressive weakness in the limbs led to inability to move both legs.

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The patient was admitted to the hospital with numbness and decreased sensation in the limbs; legs heavier than arms, flaccid paralysis of the legs with muscle strength of 2/5, difficulty in movement, unable to walk, had to move in a wheelchair; subtle weakness in both arms with muscle strength of 4-5/5; no slurred speech, no facial paralysis, no sphincter disorders.

The patient was diagnosed with: Subacute peripheral nerve damage due to laughing gas abuse. Treatment was prescribed with neurotransmitter enhancing drugs and high doses of vitamin B12.

After 10 days of treatment, the patient's clinical symptoms improved: walking, mobility, less numbness, upper limb muscle strength 5/5, lower limb muscle strength on both sides 4-5/5. The patient's health was stable and he was discharged from the hospital, maintained on outpatient medication, and scheduled for a follow-up visit at the Neurology department.

After treatment, patients need to follow the doctor's instructions to speed up recovery time.

At the same time, it is necessary to have regular check-ups, practice a healthy lifestyle by maintaining the habit of exercising, staying away from stimulants that are harmful to health and eating according to a scientific nutritional regimen.

According to Dr. Le Thi Bich Thuy, Head of the Department of Neurology - Musculoskeletal, Phu Tho General Hospital, Nitrous Oxide (N2O) poisoning due to long-term abuse of laughing gas can lead to subacute neurodegeneration due to vitamin B12 inactivation, thereby causing long-term and difficult-to-recover nerve damage.

Therefore, in patients with symptoms of numbness and paresthesia in the limbs, taking a history of laughing gas abuse, a complete clinical and paraclinical examination, especially MRI of the cervical spine and nerve conduction measurement will help make an accurate diagnosis, thereby restoring the patient's motor function to the maximum.

Through this, doctors warn that using "laughing gas" can cause temporary excitement and happiness, but has negative effects on the user's health.

Stimulants have the potential to cause abuse or dependence, causing serious neurological, cardiovascular, brain inhibition, and even death.

Previously, according to doctors from the Neurology Department, Bai Chay Hospital received many cases of patients poisoned by N20 gas due to long-term use of laughing gas balloons.

Common neurological symptoms include numbness, weakness or mild weakness of the limbs, unsteady gait with or without cervical spinal cord injury...

Also regarding laughing gas poisoning, recent statistics from the Poison Control Center of Bach Mai Hospital show that almost every day there are inpatients being treated at the hospital due to the consequences of using laughing gas.

Mild symptoms include numbness in limbs, memory loss, heart rhythm disturbances, and poor health. Severe symptoms include serious damage to the spinal cord, brain damage, and mental disorders.

There have been many cases where patients have been severely affected by the harmful effects of laughing gas, making it difficult to recover from the damage, causing lifelong disability. It can even lead to death if treatment is delayed.

In particular, what is more dangerous, according to the warning of the Poison Control Center of Bach Mai Hospital, people who regularly use laughing gas will become addicted and gradually continue to seek other drugs such as marijuana and synthetic drugs to satisfy their perverted pleasures.

In fact, in recent times in many localities across the country, the situation of people using laughing gas with synthetic drugs has occurred a lot.

According to the Ministry of Health, N2O gas is on the list of chemicals restricted from production and trading in the industrial sector, and can only be bought, sold, and produced for industrial use, and cannot be used for humans.

N20 (Dinitrogen oxide or nitrous oxide) also known as laughing gas is one of the colorless inorganic compounds, slightly sweet taste. This substance enters the body in gas form, will take the place of oxygen causing lack of oxygen, inhibiting the central nervous system causing many feelings of high, paranoia. N2O is a group of addictive substances, belonging to the group of hallucinogens with a tendency to increase the dose, users can become dependent, addicted, hallucinating similar to heroin.

If you use laughing gas quickly and in small amounts, it will cause laughter and temporary excitement. If you use N20 in large quantities for a long time, it can cause neurotoxicity, nerve damage from the brain to the spinal cord, especially the cervical and thoracic spinal cord.

Patients may experience disorders such as numbness, weakness in limbs, memory disorders, sleep disorders, heart rhythm disorders, low blood pressure, anemia, B12 deficiency, etc. More seriously, it can cause depression, coma, low blood pressure, paralysis, and death.

For people with cardiovascular disease, asthma and respiratory diseases, using and being exposed to N2O gas can be life-threatening due to suffocation and respiratory failure.

In cases of N20 laughing gas poisoning, combined treatment with high-pressure oxygen can quickly remove toxic gases from the patient's body, especially the brain, helping patients reduce neurological sequelae and recover quickly.