In the outpatient room, all eyes were focused on the male patient on the Pingche and his tongue that couldn't be retracted. The air was filled with a mix of curiosity, puzzlement, and a faint hint of intrigue that was hard to detect. Several young graduate students and residents whispered among themselves, with various speculations colliding in their subdued conversations.
"Could it be acute anterior dislocation of the temporomandibular joint? Although the X-ray shows nothing, could it be a special case?" a resident with black-rimmed glasses hypothesized, but then immediately self-denied, "But dislocation usually results in the mouth not being able to close, the tongue not retracting seems atypical."
"Does it seem more like a nervous system issue? Like a focal epileptic seizure, just manifesting as tonic spasm of the tongue muscle?" another graduate student with active thinking jumped in.
