Loss of money and disability when treating joint diseases at non-specialized facilities

The two patients, Ms. Ngo Thi Bien, 71 years old, residing in Tuc Duyen ward and Ms. Tran Thi De, 78 years old, residing in Quang Vinh ward, both in Thai Nguyen city, Thai Nguyen province, both received knee treatment at a private clinic on Hoang Ngan street, Thai Nguyen city.

The two patients said that this facility specializes in oriental medicine and physical therapy. The initial purpose of the patients was to come to the facility for neck and shoulder massage. Through questioning and investigation, the facility learned that Ms. Bien and Ms. De had knee pain, so they advised injecting platelet-rich plasma to help “rejuvenate the knee joint”, ensuring that the treatment could be cured within 7 or 8 years.

Ms. Bien and Ms. De decided to have a course of 5 injections of platelet-rich plasma, costing only a few hundred thousand VND/injection. After the third injection into both knee joints, both patients experienced increased pain, swelling, redness, and difficulty walking. Reflecting this situation, the clinic only prescribed painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs for the two women to take. Taking the drugs did not help, so the two women decided to go to Thai Nguyen Central Hospital for examination and treatment.

Upon admission to the Department of Orthopedics, Thai Nguyen Central Hospital, 2 patients underwent knee joint aspiration, the amount of fluid was about 10-30ml on each side, the fluid was cloudy yellow. The results of the joint fluid test showed that the knee joint fluid was acute inflammatory fluid, the number of white blood cells in the joint fluid increased, along with the inflammatory indicators in the blood such as the number of white blood cells, blood sedimentation rate, and CRP also increased.

The patients were prescribed a combination of intravenous antibiotics, pain relievers, and anti-inflammatory drugs. After about 10 days of intensive treatment, the inflammation, swelling, and pain in both knee joints, as well as the ability to walk and move, improved in both patients, and the inflammatory markers in their blood decreased significantly.

From the reality of 2 patients, doctors of the Department of Orthopedics, Thai Nguyen Central Hospital recommend that patients and people with joint pain and unusual symptoms on the body should go to reputable medical facilities for examination and treatment, and should not self-study and treat at non-specialized facilities, such as spas and unprestigious spontaneous clinics.

Currently, many private clinics advertise treatment for knee osteoarthritis using platelet-rich plasma injections, promising rapid pain relief and a 100% cure. However, joint diseases in general are largely caused by degeneration, and treatment requires persistence and adherence to the prescribed protocol.

At Thai Nguyen Central Hospital, the platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection technique has been and is being applied by the Department of Orthopedics to treat osteoarthritis and enthesitis. This is a modern, safe method with few side effects, minimizing complications and shortening treatment time in cases of osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, shoulder, enthesitis, tendon tears, etc. However, this method needs to be performed at reputable hospitals and medical facilities, ensuring sterility, and performed by experienced specialists.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tien-mat-tat-mang-khi-dieu-tri-benh-ly-khop-tai-cac-co-so-khong-chuyen-post832852.html