VietNamNet Bridge - The sophisticated endoscopy surgery technique invented by Associate Professor Dr Tran Ngoc Luong, the director of the Hanoi-based Central Hospital of Endocrinology, has been recognized worldwide.

The name Tran Ngoc Luong, well known among the Vietnamese surgeon community, was once again named at the ceremony to honour Vietnamese talents. His work of applying endoscopy surgery technique in treating thyroid gland diseases has become popular in many countries, where it is called “Dr Luong’s technique”.

Luong became a surgeon of Bach Mai Hospital, one of the largest general hospitals in Vietnam, soon after he finished medical school. Then he was sent to France to a training course on abdominal endoscopy.

However, he later decided to focus on thyroid gland surgery because he found that Vietnamese surgeons were not good at this.

Luong’s career path turned in another direction when he decided to leave Bach Mai for the Central Hospital of Endocrinology in December 2001, where he vowed to build a surgery ward.

It was a difficult period for Luong as he could not find the capital to equip the surgery ward with modern machines. The money allocated by the hospital was just enough to buy anesthesia machines and some other tools.

He tried to seek every useful tool at an old items’ warehouse of Bach Mai Hospital. He also brought medical instruments he was given by foreign colleagues to use at the hospital.

“We wanted to perform surgery to save patients. No one thought we would be able to build up a strong brand,” he said.
 
Since 2003, Luong, who had a lot of experience in traditional open thyroid gland surgery and in abdominal endoscopy, decided to focus on developing a thyroid gland endoscopy surgery technique.

Luong’s first surgery that applied the new technique lasted three hours. The patient had a goitre of the diameter of 2-3 cm. The operation was more successful than expected.

Instead of a 8-12 cm scar on the neck, the surgery only caused two small scars at the armpit and chest. Meanwhile, the patient could leave the hospital two or three days after the surgery.

Luong’s technique has been improved and developed over the last 10 years. It has been recognized by international surgeons as more simple, effective and safer than the traditional open surgery technique.

According to Luong, in some countries, surgeons cut the patient’s neck, which allows them to reach to the thyroid gland through the shortest way. However, with the technique, patients have scars on the neck.

Meanwhile, with Luong’s technique, surgeons only have to use simple instruments for abdominal endoscopy instead of complicated and expensive tools. This allows to a cost of $300-400 for the operation instead of $10,000 in Singapore.

VnMedia