A 19-year-old student was nicknamed “Bent Boy” after being affected by a rare and very serious back problem that causes distortion in the shape of the spine. The young man, who has a Z-shaped spine, underwent two surgeries and now has a chance of getting back on his feet.
X-ray shows the situation of the patient’s spine before the first surgery – Photo: YouTube/South China Morning Post/The Sun/Reproduction/ND
The “bent boy”
Jiang Yanchen lives in Shandong province, China, and has a condition called ankylosing spondylitis – a problem that deforms the spine and reduces patients’ flexibility.
According to the British newspaper The Sun, Yanchen has suffered from a back problem since primary school, which caused his spine to contort backwards, at a 180º angle.
In addition to having difficulty carrying out common daily activities such as walking, eating and even breathing, Jiang also had a lung capacity of just 20% of that of a healthy adult.
Complex spine surgeries
The 19-year-old student underwent two very high-risk surgical procedures in May and August last year, as published in the British newspaper, but the two surgeries left the young man in an even more serious condition.
“We broke the cervical spine, stretched it and stabilized it with a frame. The frame remained on his body during the process,” explained the head doctor of the Department of Orthopedics at Beijing University Hospital, Wang Yu, about the first surgery.
The frame the doctor refers to consists of a ring fixed to Jiang’s head and a strap to stabilize the spinal region. The next stage of treatment, according to the doctor, is to loosen the structure to arrange the spine in parts.
“My son suffered a lot,” said his mother, Yu Meiying.
Jiang received the nickname “bent boy” because of his condition – Photo: YouTube/South China Morning Post/The Sun/Reproduction/NDAfter the first procedure to improve the spinal problem, Jiang suffered from severe pain because, according to doctors, the nerves were not accustomed to the new shape of the region.
In this way, with the procedures, the student was ‘unfolded’ from 180º to 90°.
“Now I can walk slowly with the walker, go to the sink, brush my teeth and wash my face. I can hold a bowl and eat like anyone else, sitting at the table,” said Jiang Yanchen.
This condition usually appears in early adulthood and mainly affects men, with signs and symptoms such as:
- Pain in the lower back, heels, back, joints, eyes, neck or hips
- Pain when the body is at rest
- Joint stiffness and sensitivity
- Redness or inflammation in the eyes
- Inflammatory bowel diseases
- Fatigue
- Inflammation in the tendons
