Sierra Leone patient receives endoscopic spinal decompression at Zhujiang Hospital
A 49-year-old with six years of walking difficulties travelled to Guangzhou after pre-arrival coordination with the international medical centre.
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Zhujiang Hospital has reported the treatment of a 49-year-old man from Sierra Leone whose back pain and difficulty walking had persisted for six years. The patient, given the pseudonym Abu, contacted the international medical centre before travelling to Guangzhou after conservative treatment at home had not improved his symptoms.
Records and consultations before arrival
The centre helped translate and organise his records and arranged remote communication with spine specialists. On his arrival day, it coordinated imaging and preoperative assessment through an international patient pathway.
Abu was 174 centimetres tall and weighed 95 kilograms. He needed to stop after walking less than 200 metres because his legs became heavy and tight. Lumbar CT and MRI showed spinal epidural lipomatosis: excess fat compressed the dural sac, particularly at L4/5 and L5/S1. The bony spinal canal itself was not narrowed.
Two levels treated endoscopically
The international centre coordinated a preoperative discussion involving spine surgery, anaesthesia and endocrinology. After assessment, Shi Benchao’s team selected unilateral biportal endoscopy, or UBE, with bilateral decompression through a unilateral approach at both affected levels.
The procedure removed the overgrown fat and decompressed the canal under endoscopic vision. The account describes three incisions smaller than one centimetre for this patient. It also explains that this approach avoided extensive muscle stripping and internal fixation.
Early mobility and hospital support
On the second postoperative day, Abu walked several hundred metres. The hospital reported that the longstanding tightness in his legs had resolved at that stage. He was discharged on the third postoperative day.
Throughout the admission, the international centre assigned staff to help with admission and discharge procedures, payments and other hospital arrangements. This support continued the record preparation and specialist contact begun before he left Sierra Leone.