While the whole country is bustling to celebrate the 80th anniversary of National Day on September 2, at the 108 Central Military Hospital, the operating room lights are still on all night. There, doctors and nurses do not have the concept of a day off, only need to persistently fight for the lives of patients with acute liver failure and liver cancer.
In the last week of August alone, 108 Central Military Hospital successfully performed 5 liver transplants from living donors. These are patients who have only one chance to continue living. That success not only requires high professional qualifications but also a smooth coordination between many departments: from organ donation coordination, anesthesia, resuscitation to post-operative care.
Resurrection stories
In the case of Mr. N.H.V (Bac Ninh) suffering from acute liver failure due to chronic hepatitis B, liver coma, there are only 36 hours left to save his life. The 19-year-old son - N.H.N - did not hesitate to sign a document donating part of his liver to save his father.
"I don't want my mother to give me a donation because my mother has just given birth to a baby for more than 2 months. I just thought about what I should do so that I could live, N.H.N shared.
On August 24, the emergency liver transplant was successful, the father woke up after a coma, bringing complete happiness to the whole family.
Another patient, 60 years old, in Ninh Binh, had had a left liver catage surgery 2 years ago for pancreatic cancer. When the tumor re-merged, he only had a liver transplant path. The surgery was extremely complicated due to the old post-operative sticking and the reshaping of the blood vessel and gallbladder systems. But once again, doctors at 108 Central Military Hospital performed a miracle, bringing life to the patient.
Lieutenant Colonel, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Quang - Deputy Head of the Department of liver - Thyroid - Immunology, 108 Central Military Hospital - said: "The patient was diagnosed with left liver cancer 2 years ago and had endoscopic surgery to remove the left liver. The patient underwent a periodic check-up to detect recurrent liver tumors in the remaining liver and was advised on a liver transplant. The liver transplantation in patients who have had previous liver surgeries is often more complicated and difficult due to the adhension caused by the old surgery, and the left vascular and gicial tract system has been removed, making the shaping and performing of the mouth joints especially difficult.
After the transplant, the health of the recipient and the donor was stable and closely monitored and evaluated. 5 patients who were once between the lines of life and death, now recovering well, this is a precious gift for military doctors.
The mark of high technology
Notably, all transplants during the week are performed using endoscopic surgery - a most complex technique, requiring experience and modern equipment. Compared to open surgery, endoscopic surgery is less invasive, helping the donor recover quickly, have less pain and have a high cosmetic function.
This method brings many benefits to liver donors such as: Less invasive intervention helps relieve pain after surgery better than open surgery, faster recovery time, high aesthetics while the results are equivalent to open surgery.
Since the first endoscopic surgery for piece removal in Vietnam was performed at the 108 Central Military Hospital in November 2021, the hospital has successfully performed over 90 cases of endoscopic surgery for piece removal. In the world, only a few liver and liver transplant centers in countries with developed medicine such as the US, Europe, Japan, and South Korea can perform endoscopic surgery to remove liver transplant pieces from living donors.
