Three hospitals are using robots in surgeries

One year ago, Binh Dan Hospital’s surgeons received a patient from Binh Dinh province, a 26-year-old girl with a tumor on the left hip area. She was brought to the hospital by her mother who had heard that Binh Dan Hospital was using robots in surgery.

The mother said she was from a poor family and could borrow only VND40 million, half of the total cost of one operation.

The surgeons decided to carry out the operation to remove the tumor on the left adrenal gland, just two days before Tet, for free. Dr Nguyen Phuc Cam Hoang, deputy director of the hospital, led the surgeons’ team.

Binh Dan began conducting robotic surgeries on adults in December 2016 with 4-arm robots, intelligent cameras and 3D images. Doctors at the hospital in August 2017 performed the country’s first robotic surgery on a liver cancer patient.

Following Binh Dan, in October 2017, Cho Ray Hospital began robotic surgeries.

In March 2014, the National Hospital of Pediatrics set up the first robotic pediatric endoscopic surgery center in the country.

According to the director of Binh Dan Hospital, Tran Vinh Hung, after one year of implementation, 222 patients have undergone robotic surgeries, including 59 patients with prostate cancer and 54 people with colorectal cancer.

One of the first robotic surgery cases was conducted on a stomach cancer patient. The operation lasted four hours, after which 2/3 of the stomach and metastases were removed. 

Robotic surgery can remove cancerous lymph nodes, reduce blood loss, and prevent the risk of metastases and recurrences.

Dr Nguyen Truong Son, director of Cho Ray Hospital, said that Cho Ray will conduct robotic endoscopic surgeries by treating many kinds of cancer.  

Through a magnified 3D HD system, surgeons can better control surgery and direct the robot’s hands to bend and rotate 540 degrees, far more than a human hand can. 

With strong advantages, robotic surgery is becoming more common in Vietnam. Only one hospital in Vietnam was equipped with surgical robots in 2014, but the figure had increased to four by the end of 2017.

Instead of going overseas, patients can now undergo surgeries in Vietnam with advanced technology and doctors who use global standards.

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