Plasma exchange is the most effective method to help people with Guillain Barre disease recover from weakness and paralysis, in the context that there is no complete treatment for this syndrome.
On April 22, Dr. Vuong My Dung, Department of Intensive Care and Poison Control (ICU), Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, said the above information, adding that plasma exchange helps speed up recovery. recovery, shortening treatment and hospitalization time, reducing the risk of permanent paralysis for people with Guillain-Barré syndrome. This syndrome is a condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s nerves, disrupting the conduction function of peripheral nerves… leading to quadriplegia.
“Plasma exchange is a vital solution for treating Guillain-Barré disease,” said Dr. Dung. There are two methods of plasma exchange: through membrane filtration or by centrifugation. Both methods provide good treatment results, according to the doctor.
The method is to remove plasma containing disease-causing antibodies from the patient’s body and replace it with new plasma that does not contain disease-causing antibodies. Depending on the condition, doctors have different treatment regimens.
Last week, Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City received three people with paralysis due to Guillain-Barré syndrome. For example, Ms. Hoa, 43 years old, had headaches, numbness in her arms and legs, unable to hold and walk, and total body paralysis after 5 days of symptoms appearing. Results of a CT scan of the brain, blood tests, cerebrospinal fluid, and electromyography at Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City showed that Ms. Hoa has Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Dr. Dung said that if the plasma is not replaced promptly, Ms. Hoa’s disease is at risk of getting worse, leading to respiratory muscle paralysis, pharyngeal muscle weakness causing difficulty swallowing, affecting the autonomic nervous system, and possibly death. dead. After the 4th plasma exchange, Ms. Hoa was able to walk on her own. By the 5th time of plasma exchange, her arms and legs recovered normally, and she was discharged from the hospital.
Similarly, Mr. Tung, 53 years old, Vietnamese American, developed symptoms of numbness in his arms and legs after returning from traveling abroad, due to Guillain-Barré. The disease progressed quickly, leaving his arms and legs numb after 4 days. After 5 plasma exchanges, his health recovered almost completely.
His family also has this disease, treated in the US with plasma exchange technology. “The cost in Vietnam is 1/3-1/4 compared to the US,” he said. The cost of plasma replacement at Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City depends on the condition and plasma volume of each patient, ranging from 30-50 million VND, according to Dr. Dung.
The ICU nurses brought Ms. Hoa back to the hospital room after 4 hours of plasma exchange. Image: Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City
Dr. Tran Nguyen Uyen Dung, Department of Internal Medicine, Neuroscience Center, said that currently medical literature has not yet determined the exact cause of Guillain-Barré syndrome. The disease is often associated with infections, mainly upper respiratory tract infections and gastroenteritis. Some agents may be related to this syndrome such as Campylobacter jejuni bacteria, influenza virus, intestinal viruses and other viruses such as Cytomegalo, Epstein-Barr, Zika…
Patients treated early, 7-14 days after symptom onset, are most effective. Therefore, people with symptoms such as muscle weakness, numbness or tingling in the arms and legs, choking or swallowing, need to go to a medical facility for early diagnosis and treatment.
In case of late detection, the patient still has muscle weakness even after plasma exchange. To improve, patients need time to do rehabilitation exercises to strengthen muscles and restore mobility.
Currently, plasma exchange technology also supports the treatment of many serious diseases such as acute hepatitis, myasthenia gravis, acute pancreatitis due to increased triglycerides, severe septic shock causing progressive multi-organ failure that responds poorly to medical treatment, and stroke. thyroid (acute dangerous complication of hyperthyroidism).
