According to information from the family, in the past 5 months, the patient has shown signs of rapid abdominal enlargement, accompanied by subtle pain. However, this condition was initially confused with weight gain or physiological changes in puberty, so the examination was delayed.
Only when the child's abdomen became clearly swollen and bulging, and a large hard mass spreading to the sternum area was felt, did the family take the child to the hospital for examination.
Through clinical examination, ultrasound and X-rays, doctors discovered a large tumor originating from the right ovary, with suspected malignant germ cell tumor characteristics - a group of diseases that can occur in children and adolescents. The patient also had a tumor in the left ovary about 8cm in size, heading towards a benign dermal tumor.
Faced with the risk of complicated disease progression, doctors prescribed early surgery for the patient.
During the surgery, the team completely removed the right ovarian tumor weighing 4.3kg, ensuring complete removal of the tumor intact. With the left ovary, doctors proceeded to remove the tumor, while preserving the most healthy tissue to maintain endocrine function and reproduction for the patient in the future.
After surgery, the patient was awake, stable in health and ate normally.
Dr. Nguyen Van Thang - Head of the Department of Gynecology and Oncology, who directly directed the surgery - said that removing the entire tumor is very important in treatment.
If the tumor has malignant nature and ruptures during surgery, cancer cells can spread in the abdominal cavity, increasing the risk of recurrence and requiring the patient to undergo chemotherapy after surgery. Conversely, when the tumor is completely removed, the probability of not requiring chemotherapy will be higher, helping to reduce the treatment burden for the patient," said Dr. Nguyen Van Thang.
Doctors recommend that parents should not be subjective when children have symptoms such as abnormally large abdomen, prolonged abdominal pain, feeling a hard mass in the abdomen or abnormal body changes during puberty.
It is very important to distinguish between normal physiological changes and pathological signs. When there is suspicion, the family needs to take the child to a specialized medical facility for examination, diagnosis and timely treatment.
