Journey to confront death
More than a year ago, patient Tran Ho Dung (60 years old, Thu Duc) had a serious traffic accident, causing cervical spine injury, cervical cord compression, and cervical stenosis at C3C4. After receiving the case, doctors at Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City) consulted and performed surgery immediately that night.
“This is a very serious case because the patient is quadriplegic, unable to breathe on his own, and has a difficult prognosis, making doctors very worried about what the patient may encounter during the recovery process after surgery,” said Dr. Truong Van Tri, Head of the Department of Neurosurgery, the main surgeon of the case at that time.
Sharing more about the dangerous nature of the case, Dr. Tri said that in normal young people, the spine has not degenerated, the spinal canal is spacious and the spinal cord is surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid, so a normal force applied to the neck will not cause spinal cord injury. But this is an elderly patient, with disc spurs and hypertrophied ligaments causing the spinal canal to narrow, called cervical stenosis, the spinal cord is already compressed. Therefore, when falling on the street and receiving impact on the neck, the patient suffered severe spinal cord injury.
For severe spinal trauma cases, the sooner the emergency surgery is performed, the higher the patient's chance of recovery. Faced with a race against time, the Vinmec Central Park team performed surgery on the patient that very night.
Dr. Tran Hoang Ngoc Anh - Professional Director at Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital - assessed that the difficulty of this case is that the surgeon must have high professional skills during the surgery, each movement must be extremely precise, not touching the spinal cord, to avoid the patient being injured a second time on the operating table.
“If the surgery is not successful, the spinal cord injury can become more severe, the patient may suffer from respiratory failure and need to be on a ventilator for life. In addition, due to severe spinal trauma, the patient has many problems, so multidisciplinary coordination is needed to achieve the most effective treatment results,” shared Dr. Ngoc Anh.
The miracle of recovery exceeded expectations
After the surgery in September 2023, with the dedicated care of the doctors, the health and psychology of patient Dung began to improve significantly. After the surgery, the patient was able to breathe on his own, although with difficulty. This was considered the first spectacular recovery step because before that, the patient was completely dependent on a ventilator.
Nine days later, the patient's condition improved, his muscles began to respond again, so he was transferred to the neurosurgery department for rehabilitation exercises. After two months of treatment at Vinmec Central Park, the patient was discharged and was able to practice rehabilitation at home every day, and had regular check-ups with the doctor as prescribed.
Up to now, after just over a year, the family has witnessed a spectacular recovery when patient Dung can stand up, walk, eat and live normally.
“The biggest motivation is the encouragement from my family, who have been there 24/7 for nearly 14 months of treatment. Along with that is the dedication of the doctors who have supported and saved me at the time when I was on the verge of life and death. I feel very lucky, as if I have just been reborn” - patient Dung emotionally shared.
On the day of meeting patient Dung for a re-examination at the hospital, Master, Doctor Truong Van Tri - shared: "We not only want to save lives but also always try to help patients recover their health and spirit as best as possible. Because life lying on a hospital bed, depending on others, and not even being able to breathe on their own is something that is difficult to accept for someone who has had an unexpected accident. Thanks to the patient's perseverance in practicing, overcoming difficulties, and that persistent effort has been duly rewarded."
The success of the “difficult” case also demonstrated the professional competence and multidisciplinary coordination of the medical team at Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital in handling emergency cases due to severe trauma caused by traffic accidents. This miraculous story has also become a journey of inspiration and motivation for many patients who are fighting their illness every day to soon return to normal life.
