At the end of March, Mina arrived in Guangzhou, China, from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with her 3-year-old son, Jim, to seek medical treatment abroad. Jim had been diagnosed locally with delayed mental and speech development, and Mina had tried many approaches until she saw news from China online that the Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, offered a special form of comprehensive anesthesia therapy for treating autism.

Every morning for two hours, Jim received inhaled anesthesia with sevoflurane, in conjunction with a stellate ganglion block and acupuncture. This is a cutting-edge autism intervention method in China and is rarely heard of internationally.

The results came faster than Mina had expected. After the treatment, Jim was like a different child. Mina happily told reporters that her son had developed a strong curiosity about everything around him. He was interested in elevators and escalators and would run over just to watch workers load and unload goods. "He wants to see something new every day," Mina said, "it's as if a door has been opened."

On May 15th, Jim's father flew to Guangzhou and brought his wife and son back to Uzbekistan safely.

Shi Ziwen, an attending physician in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at the medical center, told reporters that the hospital currently has a long waiting list of children with autism from across China and even other countries seeking treatment. "The child from Uzbekistan has completed one course of treatment, and his parents are quite satisfied with the results. After this month of treatment, the boy's cognitive abilities, comprehension, and language skills have all improved significantly. They plan to come back in two or three months for a second course of treatment."

从塔什干到广州，麻醉综合治疗为3岁孤独症孩童打开一扇门

3月底，米娜带着3岁的儿子吉姆，从乌兹别克斯坦塔什干抵达中国广州，开始异国求医生活。吉姆在当地被诊断为“精神和言语发育迟缓”，米娜为此尝试了许多方法，直到她在网络上看到了来自中国的新闻——广州医科大学附属妇女儿童医疗中心有一种特殊的麻醉综合疗法，用于治疗孤独症。

每天上午两个小时，吉姆需要接受麻醉吸入治疗——药物是七氟烷，同时配合星状神经阻滞和针灸。这是一种在国内尚属前沿、在国际上也鲜有听闻的孤独症干预手段。

效果来得比米娜预想的要快。治疗之后，吉姆像换了个人似的。米娜开心地向记者分享，孩子开始对周围的一切产生强烈的好奇——他对电梯、自动扶梯感兴趣，会特意跑过去看工人怎么装卸货物。米娜说：“他每天都想看到新的东西，好像打开了一扇门。”

5月15日，孩子爸爸飞到广州，顺利将母子俩接回国。

广州妇儿中心麻醉与围术期科主治医师石子文向记者介绍，目前医院排队治疗的孤独症患儿很多，来自全国甚至其他国家。“这位乌兹别克斯坦的患儿治疗了一个疗程，家长对效果挺满意。做完这一个月治疗，小朋友的认知、理解、语言都有非常大的改善。后续他们计划过两三个月再过来做第二个疗程的治疗。”

文、图、视频｜ 记者 张华 温泽广
翻译丨黄健新
审校丨曾敏