Doctors at Kettering General Hospital (England) reported a case of spinal cord infarction in a teenager due to strength training with dumbbells. Health report published in the magazine BMJ Case Reports.
An older teenager was hospitalized with complaints of impaired movement of the arms and legs (limp paralysis) and acute urinary retention. These symptoms appeared after a workout in which he performed a dumbbell bench press.
The authors of the report noted that MRI had limited sensitivity in detecting anterior spinal cord infarction in the first hours after the onset of symptoms: examination did not reveal any abnormalities until 12 hours after the onset of symptoms, and signs of infarction on MRI only became visible after five days.
After three weeks, the patient began to improve spontaneously, and after six weeks, he was able to perform daily activities independently.
Doctors suggested that the cause of the heart attack could be a partial rupture of the intervertebral disc, fragments of which caused blockage of the spinal arteries. Infarctions that occur during exercise and heavy lifting can affect the thoracic or cervical spinal cord. Doctors emphasized that greater exercise intensity or the weight of the equipment is not associated with the risk of spinal cord infarction. Despite the severity of this condition, the prognosis is generally good, but it is important to begin rehabilitation as early as possible.
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