Ho Chi Minh City is promoting the application of AI and robots in medicine to improve treatment efficiency, especially in difficult cases. Vietnam is also gradually becoming a bright spot in the region in bringing high technology into medical examination and treatment.
Within the framework of the 6th Conference of the International Stomach Cancer Club held from May 13-16 at FV Hospital and University Medical Center Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, many experts updated on minimally invasive treatment trends, multi-modal treatment strategies and new technology applications in digestive surgery.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vo Duy Long - Deputy Head of Gastrointestinal Surgery Department, University Medical Center Hospital of Ho Chi Minh City, modern technology, especially robot surgery, AI applications are opening up many new opportunities in treating complex digestive cancer cases.
From there, through each finger movement of the surgeon, the robot arm from afar moves gracefully, meticulously dissecting the tumor skillfully. Thanks to better observation and outstanding advantages when operating with 3 arms operating unlimitedly, the robot has given doctors confidence in the face of difficult and prolonged surgeries.
Also according to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Long, the current goal is to perform surgery to minimize tumors by robots to improve the quality of life and create opportunities for continued treatment for patients. He said that robot technology allows accurate operation in deep areas, handling complex invasive cases with lower complications and mortality rates than before. This is also the direction that Ho Chi Minh City University Medical Center and the health sector are promoting in treatment.
For example, the case of a female patient, 51 years old, residing in Ho Chi Minh City, admitted to the hospital in a state of exhaustion due to spreading infiltrated stomach cancer, with a high degree of malignancy.
According to doctors, this is a very difficult case because the cancer has metastasized to the peritoneum. The team had to open the feeding duodenum and perform chemotherapy combined with targeted drugs and immunization for many months. After that, the patient underwent robot surgery at FV Hospital. Currently, the patient is under postoperative monitoring.
Recorded at Binh Dan Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, in recent years the hospital has also been one of the rare public facilities to install a robot system for surgery.
BS.CKII Nguyen Van Viet Thanh, Head of the Department of Thoracic Surgery - Aneurysm, Binh Dan Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, said that for more than 20 years of operating on tumors in the chest, but only when performing surgery with a robot did he clearly feel and observe each tumor location, the blood vessels proliferating at the highest level.
On average, the hospital performs robot surgery for about 2-3 cases per day. Compared to previous years, recently patients choosing robot surgery have tended to increase.
The maximum capacity of robots only performs a few surgeries per day, so patients have to wait an average of 2-3 weeks. Robot-assisted surgery is suitable for cases where tumors are located in the pelvic area, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer... Currently, this method has gradually expanded to cases of cancer in many other parts.
