Orthopedic consultant Dr. Abdullah Al-Nabhan, who performed surgery on the 29-year-old man’s legs, said he had no feeling in his legs, which is medically known as tonus and clonus.

Al-Nabhan, who has a fellowship in surgery from Germany, said the patient was not able to walk or excrete, and remained all the time in a wheelchair.

He said the patient had undergone a surgical operation in his spinal cord about 10 years ago when metal plates were planted to fix a fracture in the lumbar vertebra.

About a year ago, Al-Nabhan said, the patient started having the same symptoms before the operation and he visited many hospitals for treatment.

Because the metal plates caused difficulty in seeing what was happening in the spinal cord, the spinal cord was injected with a colored dye (myelography and myelo-CT Scan).

This showed an acute narrowness in the spinal cord behind the broken vertebra, Al-Nabhan added.

However, after the accurate diagnosis, the surgical operation was conducted during which the spinal cord was enlarged using Pentra endoscope, he said.

Al-Nabhan said the friction between the spinal cord and the wall (myelolyse) was removed and the vertebrae fixed using platinum nails.

He described the operation as highly successful and said the health condition of the patient has greatly improved and he was able to control the movement of his legs.

He said the convulsions were considerably reduced.