High-tech applications in medicine

Making a mark on the national organ transplant map

In April 2024, Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital was one of the first provincial-level medical units in the country to successfully coordinate the removal of donated organs from a brain-dead person. The organ removal took place at night, ensuring timeliness, speed, and efficiency after 5 hours, with the participation of 120 doctors, nurses, and technicians divided into many teams including doctors and nurses from leading organ transplant centers in Vietnam, such as 108 Military Central Hospital, Viet Duc Hospital, Hue Central Hospital, and provincial hospitals. The provincial health sector promptly mobilized available conditions in terms of human resources, machinery, and medicine for the organ removal surgery. Thanks to that, the donated organs from the brain-dead person saved the lives of 7 people, including 2 children. This is an important milestone showing the province's efforts in deeply participating in the national organ donation and transplantation network.

Doctors perform organ harvesting at Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital, April 2024.

In fact, the need for organ transplants is still very large. Quang Ninh has about 1,000 people with kidney failure, about 30% of whom are on the waiting list for kidney transplants. With the desire to save lives, reduce the burden on patients and their families, and improve the quality of medical examination and treatment, the health sector and medical facilities have carefully prepared the conditions of facilities, equipment, human resources, and capacity for medical facilities to take and transplant human tissues and organs according to the regulations of the Ministry of Health.

Accordingly, the units have invested in completing the facilities: Hemodialysis area, Intensive Care - Resuscitation after brain death area, kidney removal - transplant surgery area, post-operative resuscitation area..., ensuring closed, one-way connection, with positive pressure air. At the same time, the equipment is synchronous, modern, high-tech, such as: Ultrasound machine, MRI, CT-Scanner, dialysis machine, ECMO artificial heart-lung machine, testing system, endoscopic kidney removal machine, anesthesia machine, scalpel... The units have sent more than 100 doctors and nurses to train, study and improve regularly at home and abroad. Thanks to that, Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital and the Provincial General Hospital have been assessed by the Ministry of Health as qualified to perform kidney transplants.

The donor's kidney was transported to the Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital.

With the support of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital and the Provincial General Hospital have just completed the first two kidney transplants in the province. Both kidneys were taken from a brain-dead person at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, coordinated by the National Organ Coordination Center for two patients in Quang Ninh: a 48-year-old male patient in Cam Pha; a 41-year-old female patient in Quang Yen, both with end-stage chronic kidney failure, dialysis 3 times/week and kidney transplant indications. The surgery was completed in 2 hours with the participation of nearly 200 experts, doctors, nurses, and technicians.

Just a few hours after the transplant, both kidney transplant patients were awake, in stable health, and had good kidney function. This result marked an important step forward for the provincial health sector, opening up new opportunities for many patients and improving the quality of medical examination and treatment. Organ transplantation is currently the most advanced technique in medicine today. The ability to perform kidney transplants at two provincial hospitals is the result of the initiative and efforts of the provincial General Hospital and the Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital as well as the Quang Ninh health sector.

The patient who received a kidney transplant at the Provincial General Hospital is awake, in stable health, and has good kidney function.

Doctor CK I Nguyen Tien Thang, Head of the Department of Examination and Treatment on Demand (Provincial General Hospital), said: With the attention of the province and the health sector on facilities, equipment, and support from Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, we have been given the opportunity by the hospital and the sector to participate in training at home and abroad, preparing for this kidney transplant. We have built a detailed plan, from participating in consultation, transportation, performing the transplant to care, recovery and nutrition for the patient. Hopefully, the donor's kidney will be revived in a new body.

Dr. Tran Anh Cuong, Director of Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital, said: The hospital currently has about 200 patients on regular dialysis, of which 13 patients are eligible for kidney transplant waiting list. After nearly 1 year of careful preparation, the hospital has been recognized by the Ministry of Health as qualified to perform kidney removal and transplant techniques from living donors and brain-dead donors. The successful implementation of the first kidney transplant in the province will be the foundation for the development of specialized, modern, high-tech medical care, opening up opportunities for healthier lives for hundreds of patients with chronic kidney failure in the province, aiming to become the center for organ transplants in the Northeast region. Immediately after the success of the first organ removal, the hospital developed a dialysis project.

Advanced technical development

With the province's investment resources, the active support of experts, and the efforts of the medical staff, in recent times, the provincial health sector has pioneered in implementing many applications and advances in science and technology in medical examination and treatment; medical facilities have routinely implemented many difficult, specialized, and complex techniques, helping people enjoy high-tech services right at the provincial level.

Doctors from the Department of Neurosurgery - Thoracic (Bai Chay Hospital) performed endoscopic surgery to treat herniated disc.

A typical example is the specialized technique of endoscopic surgery to treat herniated discs. Bai Chay Hospital currently performs endoscopic surgery to successfully treat 7-10 patients with herniated discs of all ages each month. This is a minimally invasive technique with many outstanding advantages, such as pain relief, limited damage to the spinal structure, very little blood loss, and minimal risk of infection during and after surgery. After surgery, patients immediately experience reduced pain and numbness, can move quickly, and return to daily activities just 1-2 days after surgery, providing optimal treatment results and reducing treatment costs.

According to Dr. CKII Le Trieu Linh, Deputy Head of the Department of Neurosurgery (Bai Chay Hospital), 80% of patients with lumbar disc herniation can be cured by internal medicine, the rate of patients requiring surgery accounts for about 20%. Surgery is indicated for the treatment of disc herniation in cases where internal medicine treatment fails for 6-8 weeks, disc herniation causes progressive nerve damage, cauda equina syndrome, spinal cord compression syndrome... Being a difficult field with many very complicated techniques, along with focusing on training a team of highly qualified doctors, experienced in neurosurgery, with absolutely precise operations and quick handling, the Hospital has invested in smart operating rooms with modern medical equipment, such as Navigation positioning system, mobile CT machine, infrared camera, microsurgery glasses, anesthesia machine... and many other medical equipment; thereby greatly supporting doctors to perform accurately, safely, shorten time, and increase success rate.

Multi-site hyperbaric oxygen therapy system at the Provincial Geriatric and Rehabilitation Hospital.

Intensive care is one of the important specialties of medical examination and treatment facilities. Therefore, at the grassroots level, medical centers and district hospitals are constantly improving their qualifications in the specialty of emergency resuscitation. According to the plan, in 2025, the provincial health sector will deploy a provincial-level science and technology project "Application of intravenous thrombolysis technique to treat acute ischemic stroke at district-level medical facilities in the province", chaired by the Provincial General Hospital, transferring the technique. This is the top recommended measure for patients with ischemic stroke in the acute to early stages, helping to reduce mortality and sequelae.

The implementation of this technique in the emergency resuscitation departments of district-level health care will contribute to saving lives and improving the quality of life for patients, while helping the team of doctors in the field of emergency resuscitation at the grassroots level improve their professional qualifications.

The medical team at Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital performed the first kidney transplant on April 8, 2025.

In addition to the above techniques, the provincial health sector has deployed many applications, such as: Intravenous thrombolysis technique to treat acute ischemic stroke at district-level medical facilities; screening technique for congenital metabolic disorders using heel blood; research on the effectiveness of combining high-pressure oxygen and transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of insomnia; artificial intelligence technology in medical imaging diagnosis to help detect early dangerous diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease; application of artificial intelligence (AI) in imaging diagnosis... These results have helped improve the quality of medical examination and treatment, reduce pressure on the health system, and facilitate people in accessing medical services quickly and effectively.

Cao Quynh

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/ung-dung-ky-thuat-cao-trong-y-hoc-3352401.html