Nervously watching the patient recover every day
Patient Tran Quang Minh (3 years old, Thai Nguyen) drowned, severe brain hypoxia, vegetative, quadriplegia, cognitive impairment.
According to the doctor's sharing, on October 25, 2025, baby Tran Quang Minh (3 years old) drowned for about 20 minutes in the pond. When the family discovered it, the baby had a face face down on the water, purple lips, pale skin & was given first aid at home. About 15-20 minutes of first aid, no reaction was seen from the baby. The family took him to the emergency room.
At Thai Nguyen Central Hospital and National Children's Hospital, the child had a prognosis of death. The hospital explained to the family to remove the ventilator and transfer her home. By the 6th day, the baby had opened eyes, moved legs, and underwent medical treatment.
After that, the child gradually quit the ventilator, stabilized the emergency situation, and was transferred to Thai Nguyen Central Hospital, but the condition did not improve. Forecast for cerebral palsy/herbal life, the child could not walk, could not speak, could not cry.
On November 18, 2025, the family took the child to Hong Ngoc Phuc - Truong Minh General Hospital for examination in a state of poor aesthetics, no reaction to the surrounding environment; incomplete quadriplegia, more quadriplegia in the arm than the leg, more quadriplegia in the right arm than the left, the child's head facing back, increased tendon reflexes in the right arm, loss of all rough movements, lying wherever they were placed.
Here, doctors used treatment protocols for vegetative patients, cerebral palsy, brain damage due to lack of brain oxygen (such as drowning, CO, CO2 poisoning, blood clots, hypotension due to diving,... ).
The most effective intervention period: Immediately after passing the critical condition to 3–6 months after a brain hypoxia incident.
Treatment with 100% pure oxygen breathing in a high-pressure environment helps stimulate nerve cell recovery, create new nerve connections, thereby restoring nerve function and movement for patients.
After 10 days of treatment at Hong Ngoc Hospital, children began to show reflexes to sounds. After 14 days of treatment, children can raise their heads and part of their bodies for about 3 minutes.
By January 7, 2026, which is about 1.5 months of treatment, children can sit firmly, can let go of one right hand when sitting. Can stand for a short time with help. Know how to express personal needs (hungry, thirsty, wanting to go to the toilet, calling relatives), can say more words.
About 2 months of treatment, children can stand firmly without help. Good communication, long sentences, level similar to before the accident. Can sit on their own without help. Vision improves, eye orientation is better. By February 24, 2026 (about 3 months of treatment), children will walk on their own, communicate well, and have good eye orientation.
According to experts, about 3 successful cases have been recorded in the world in Vietnam and the world. Opening up the opportunity for treatment for vegetative patients and cerebral palsy patients to return to normal life.
Building a specialized hyperbaric oxygen therapy regimen
BSCKI. Dinh Van Hao - Head of Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Hong Ngoc General Hospital - shared: "This is not just a miracle but also a medical achievement built on the research process. In fact, world and Vietnamese medical literature has recorded a few successful cases, but the information is not much and mainly guiding patients to adulthood.
In the case of patient Minh, the protocol was implemented in a single hyperbaric oxygen chamber (instead of a multi-position chamber), using 100% standard medical oxygen, supplied from a pure liquefied oxygen system.
Although the opportunity is slim, we realize that brain damage due to lack of oxygen does not mean that all nerve cells have been completely necrotic. In many cases, there is still a "dark and bright" zone – where cells are inhibited in function but not completely dead.
High-pressure oxygen has a mechanism to increase the amount of dissolved oxygen in plasma, improve cerebral tissue irrigation, support edema reduction and create conditions for recoverable nerve cells to be "activated" again.
We carefully consider the benefits and risks, conduct multi-specialized consultations, and closely monitor safety indicators before deciding to implement treatment. It can be said that this is a decision based on science, clinical experience, and the belief that – when there is still an opportunity, no matter how small, we should still strive to regain life and quality of life for the child" - the doctor shared.
