Vietnamese surgeons achieve world level in endoscopic surgery: deputy health minister

An endoscopic surgery at Viet-Duc Friendship Hospital in Hanoi (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi (VNA) – Endoscopic surgery has now been performed in most medical specialties in Vietnam, from gastroenterology, urology, endocrinology, to thoracic surgery and traumatology, with complicated techniques used in liver resection, esophagectomy and heart valve replacement.

It can be said that Vietnamese endoscopic surgeons have reached the world level, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan said in his remarks at a ceremony marking the 60th founding anniversary of the Vietnam Surgical Society and the Vietnam Association for Surgery & Endolaparosurgery Scientific Conference 2022 on November 18 in Hanoi.

Thuan said along with socio-economic development and growing international exchange, the surgical sector has more favourable conditions to access medical advances in the world. Endoscopic surgery has been used in many complicated surgeries even in heart valve repair or replacement.    

Many hospitals nationwide have become able to perform endoscopic surgery, and organ transplant, opening up survival chances for many patients with organ failure.  

Compared to open surgery, endoscopic surgery is considered a revolution as the technique is less invasive, thus bringing outstanding advantages for patients, including less pain, faster recovery, aesthetics and fewer complications.

The deputy health minister underlined that the medical sector in general and the surgical sector in particular have recorded significant progress, helping patients access high-tech treatment which was previously only available at centrally-run hospitals or abroad.

Professor Tran Binh Giang, Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Surgery & Endolaparosurgery, presents a report at the scientific conference (Photo: VietnamPlus)

At the conference, Professor Tran Binh Giang, Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Surgery & Endolaparosurgery said after 60 years of development, the contingent of surgeons in Vietnam has grown in both quantity and quality. Many of them were trained abroad. A number of surgeons have made their names in the world with new techniques, such as Professor Ton That Tung who invented a liver surgery technique. His groundbreaking technique, commonly known as the "Ton That Tung Method," is used by surgeons globally for its effectiveness in reducing blood loss and saving countless lives.

The first endoscopic surgery in Vietnam was performed in November 1992. Nowadays, laparoscopic techniques have been implemented in almost all medical facilities in the 63 provinces of Vietnam, at national, provincial and district level. This is an achievement that only a few countries in the world can boast about. Vietnam has become one of the first among developing countries that perform laparoscopic surgery. Successful implementation of this technique in Vietnam inspired the Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to promote popularization and application of this technique in developing countries. 

Last year, the Central Military Hospital 108 conducted a endoscopic surgery to remove a right liver from a living donor for a liver transplant for the first time in Vietnam. This is considered one of the most complicated operation techniques using laparoscopy, requiring a high level of experience coupled with modern and synchronous equipment.

The scientific conference of the Vietnam Association for Surgery & Endolaparosurgery this year received more than 300 scientific papers in over 20 medical specialties from researchers, doctors, nurses and technicians, including 65 submitted from Australia, Belgium, France, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan.

The conference was an opportunity for medical experts in the field to exchange professional techniques and experiences, review and assess disease prevention work and patient care in the country, and outline strategic orientation for the sector in the time ahead.

The Vietnam Surgical Society was founded on February 10, 1962. Professor Ton That Tung was the first chairman of the society. It operates under the motto of helping each other enhance professional skills, promote medical ethics, thus contributing to public health care and the building of a modern Vietnamese medicine.

The Vietnam Association of Endolaparoscopic Surgeons was established in 2005. In the last term (2015-2020), three largest endolaparoscopic centers nationwide (Northern, Central, and Southern) had organized 237 endolaparoscopic training courses from basic to advanced levels, benefiting nearly 3,500 attendees./.