Vinh City General Hospital: Pioneer in applying new and specialized techniques

(Baonghean) - Continuing the tradition of 50 years of development, Vinh City General Hospital has continuously improved its quality, increasingly affirming its brand with many new techniques - specialized in medical examination and treatment.

Implementation of percutaneous endoscopic kidney stone surgery

Recently, Vinh City General Hospital has received and successfully implemented the method of endoscopic surgery to remove kidney stones through the skin using a small tunnel. The hospital received this new technique from the 108 Military Central Hospital. Endoscopic surgery to remove kidney stones through the skin using a small tunnel is one of the minimally invasive treatment methods, a "gold standard" for treating large and complex kidney stones. It is known that this is the first hospital in the North Central region to implement this superior technique.

Vinh City General Hospital is the first unit in the North Central region to deploy percutaneous nephrolithotomy. Photo: Dinh Nguyet

Laparoscopic surgery to remove kidney stones through the skin using a small tunnel has outstanding advantages, because the anesthesia method is simple, minimizing the level of trauma to the kidney; can be performed even on patients who have had kidney surgery on the same side. Previously, cases such as coral stones, kidney transplant stones, urinary system malformations such as horseshoe kidney, ectopic kidney... could only be treated by open surgery with a 15 - 20cm long incision, cutting the fascia of the lateral abdominal wall, entering and cutting the kidney parenchyma to remove the stone, causing the patient to be in pain, lose a lot of blood, and damage the kidney function by more than 30%. After surgery, a long hospital stay (over 1 week) is required to recover, there is a risk of kidney surgery wound infection and the patient has a lot of pain at the surgical wound.

Now, with the method of endoscopic surgery to remove kidney stones through the skin using a small tunnel, the incision will be smaller, less painful, avoid infection, low complication rate, shorten the time (only stay in the hospital for treatment for 2-3 days), reduce treatment costs. The method of percutaneous nephrolithotomy has gradually replaced open surgery to remove kidney stones, bringing clear results in the treatment of kidney stones. For simple stones, the rate of stone removal after surgery can reach 100%. In complicated cases (coral stones), the rate of stone removal can reach about 80 - 85%. At the same time, endoscopic lithotripsy can be combined with extracorporeal lithotripsy to increase the rate of stone removal after surgery to up to 98%.

To successfully apply this new technique, Vinh City General Hospital has focused on improving the quality of human resources and investing in modern equipment. Currently, the department has invested in modern machines such as: Ultrasound machine, C-Arm machine, endoscopic surgery system, water pump, Amplart dilator, guidewire, lithotripsy tube, laser machine, etc.

This is a new, specialized technique that not only requires modern equipment, but also a team of highly qualified doctors and skilled surgeons. Dr. Tran Duc Trong - Department of Surgery, Vinh City General Hospital said: Currently, the Urology unit of the Department of Surgery has 4 well-trained doctors with a lot of experience in treating urinary stones. Recently, the hospital has arranged a team of 2 doctors and 1 nurse to participate in a training course on endoscopic surgery to remove kidney stones through the skin using a small tunnel at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital; equipped with in-depth professional knowledge and proficient use of technical equipment. That is a solid foundation for the department to successfully deploy this new, modern technical method in treating kidney diseases.

Focus on applying new and specialized techniques

The hospital successfully applied endoscopic surgery to remove prostate hypertrophy using a bipolar scalpel system. Photo: Dinh Nguyet

As a district-level hospital, after being granted autonomy by the Provincial People's Committee, Vinh City General Hospital receives daily examination and treatment needs of a large number of patients throughout the province. In the first quarter of 2017, the hospital received over 76,000 people, nearly double compared to the same period in 2016.

Currently, the hospital has a scale of 280 beds, with a bed capacity of 185%. In recent times, the hospital has focused on investing in facilities and medical equipment, including: a laboratory system and a surgical area including 5 operating rooms that meet international standards, over 90% of treatment rooms and technical rooms are air-conditioned. The hospital's emergency room has been renovated, with additional investment in modern medical equipment, worth nearly 7 billion VND. Along with that, the hospital focuses on training and improving the professional qualifications of the medical team and doctors. Thanks to that, up to now, the hospital has successfully applied many new and specialized techniques such as: endoscopic surgery to remove kidney stones through the skin using a small tunnel, hemodialysis, hip replacement surgery, endoscopic surgery to remove enlarged prostate tumors using a bipolar electric scalpel system using completely physiological saline solution...

The hospital has invested in modern equipment, and with a team of experienced doctors and nurses, has implemented many new specialized techniques to improve the quality of medical care. Photo: Dinh Nguyet

For example, the technique of endoscopic surgery to remove benign prostatic hyperplasia using a bipolar scalpel system using completely physiological saline solution (B-TURP), deployed by the hospital in early 2017, is the first unit to apply B-TURP to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia in Nghe An.

Compared to old surgical methods, this new method has many outstanding advantages such as: Reduced bleeding, minimized "endoscopic syndrome" due to the use of physiological saline, fast recovery time and reduced costs... Up to now, Vinh City General Hospital has successfully operated on nearly 30 pathological cases when applying this new technique, with a 100% success rate, after surgery all patients recovered very well.

In order to meet new development requirements and aim at patient satisfaction, the hospital focuses on synchronizing solutions. Mr. Nguyen Hong Truong - Director of City General Hospital. Vinh said: "In the coming time, the hospital will continue to innovate its management and operation, constantly improve medical ethics, spirit, and service attitude, gradually moving towards professionalism in medical examination and treatment activities; focus on developing in-depth expertise, effectively applying new techniques in medical examination and treatment; focus on key departments to create a unique "brand" for the hospital such as: Intensive care, urology, obstetrics... To achieve that goal, we have been and are implementing the attraction and training of highly qualified staff, purchasing additional modern and advanced medical equipment; to organize and operate the application of high-tech effectively. At the same time, thoroughly apply IT to all stages of hospital operations; gradually digitize medical examination and treatment activities, improve the quality of services, and move towards building a smart hospital".

Dinh Nguyet