VietNamNet Bridge – The thyroid endoscopic technique of Tran Ngoc Luong, director of the Central Hospital of Endocrinology in Hanoi, has been used by many doctors from developed countries.

Born in 1961 in Nam Dinh, Dr. Luong is considered one of the medical sector’s “golden hands”.

His work “Application of laparoscopic surgery in treatment of some thyroid diseases” was honored at the Vietnam Talent 2014 Awards. It is also highly appreciated by international friends and called the "Dr. Luong" technique.

Luong’s interest in medicine began when he passed through the gate of Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, and saw two doctors, including a foreigner. After nine years of study at the medical school, he joined the Bach Mai Hospital’s Surgical Ward in 1987.

While working at Bach Mai Hospital, he went to France to learn laparoscopic surgery techniques. During this time he also studied thyroid surgery.

In December 2001, Luong decided to leave Bach Mai Hospital for the Central Hospital of Endocrinology to build a surgical ward. This was a difficult period, as he had to build a new ward without money and equipment. At that time, he was allocated funding that was sufficient to purchase an anesthesia machine and several medical tools.

He had to go to the warehouse of Bach Mai Hospital to seek secondhand tools. "At the time, my colleagues and I only wished to be able to open the surgical ward, to have patients and to be able to perform operations for patients. Nobody dared to think that we could develop this ward into a famous brand today," Dr. Luong said.

In 2003 he began to develop the thyroid endoscopic surgery technique.

"At that moment, several clinics in the world performed that technique. I did not have an opportunity to learn the technique from them, but I thought that if they could do it, so could I. I began to research the technique myself,” Dr. Luong recalled.

The first surgery took place for about three hours. He and his colleagues selected a patient with a goiter 2-3 cm in diameter. The operation was successful. Instead of a 8-12 cm long scar on the neck, thanks to the endoscopic surgery, the patient had only two small scars at the armpit and chest, and the time spent in the hospital was only two to three days.

After more than 10 years of development, Luong’s thyroid endoscopic surgical technique has been recognized by international colleagues to be simple, fast, safe, effective and cheap.

The cost for a thyroid endoscopic surgery is $300-400 in Vietnam, while it is about $10,000 in Singapore. The surgical time is also shortened to about 20-30 minutes, compared to two hours for a similar laparoscopic surgery in Singapore or South Korea.

"Due to these advantages, this technique has been applied in many countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Portugal and others. More than 220 foreign doctors come to our hospital to learn this technique," Dr. Luong said.

Thu Ha