Will polio cause paralysis?

Parents must be worried if their children have polio. Many parents may not understand polio. Polio is an acute infectious disease caused by the polio virus that can seriously endanger physical health. So will polio cause paralysis? I hope that the following experts’ introduction can help everyone and let everyone know more about the complications of polio.

Complications of polio are more common in patients with bulbar respiratory paralysis, and may lead to secondary bronchitis, pneumonia, atelectasis, acute pulmonary edema, azotemia, hypertension, etc.

In the acute phase, about 1/4 of patients have abnormal electrocardiograms, indicating that myocardial disease can be caused directly by the virus or secondary to severe hypoxia and gastrointestinal paralysis, and can be complicated by acute gastric dilatation, gastric ulcer, intestinal paralysis, urinary retention, and urinary tract infection and other complications of polio.

People who are severely paralyzed and bedridden for a long time will suffer from bone atrophy and decalcification, and may develop complications of polio such as hypercalcemia and urinary stones.

Paralysis of some muscles that control the limbs causes an imbalance in the strength of different muscles. For example, if the muscles that control foot eversion are paralyzed, but the muscles that control foot inversion are not paralyzed, the strength on both sides of the foot will be unbalanced, with the inside being strong and the outside being weak, resulting in foot inversion.

Contracture of soft tissues around the joints of the affected limbs can cause deformities. For example, contracture of soft tissues behind the knee joint can cause deformities in which the knee joint cannot be flexed or straightened.

Abnormal walking and other weight-bearing activities can aggravate the deformity. For example, the above-mentioned deformity of muscle imbalance or soft tissue contracture can be corrected in the early stage, but the patient does not understand this and continues to walk or do other activities in an abnormal posture, which will aggravate the deformity; on the contrary, if a splint is used to fix the limbs in a healthy posture, the occurrence of deformity can be prevented.

Limb disuse and inactivity is another important cause of deformity. After the onset of the disease, the child's limbs are paralyzed and inactive. The growth and development of limbs are closely related to the normal physiological activities of the human body. The result of limb paralysis and inactivity is the slow development and even degeneration of the bones, muscles and other soft tissues of the affected limbs, resulting in short, thin, loose joints and even dislocation of the limbs.

Long-term maintenance of bad posture is another important factor in the occurrence of limb deformities. For example, if a child with paralysis sits cross-legged for a long time, it will cause deformities of the hip and knee joints. Long-term sitting posture with the chest and waist bent will cause spinal curvature deformities.

The above content mainly provides detailed information about whether polio will cause paralysis and the complications of polio. It has a significant impact on children's health, and parents should seek timely treatment.