Phuc suddenly began to vomit blood after turning 1 year old. After that single incident, he recovered quickly. Eight months later, however, the vomiting recurred, but was more severe. Without emergency care and a blood transfusion, he would have never recovered and was advised to seek treatment abroad.

Examination results showed that with this disease, medical treatments are only temporary solutions and with each relapse, the disease worsens. The best solution for the boy was redistribution surgery, which reduces the portal vein pressure.

Yet, under the treatment of Prof. Nguyen Thanh Liem, CEO of Vinmec International Hospital, Phuc had surgery and is now recovering. He has become the youngest patient to ever receive surgery at Vinmec for hepatic varicose portal vein surgery.

Doctors, led by Liem, successfully performed surgery to use a piece of the internal jugular vein in his neck to bridge the portal vein and vena cava.

Phuc began to recover after two days on mechanical ventilation and intensive treatment.

CT scan results also showed that the bridge was working well, with blood from the portal vein distributing, as planned, into the vena cava. No additional increasing portal vein pressure means that the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding was eliminated, so Phuc will not experience more life-threatening blood vomiting. 

VNS