Vinh Orthopedic - Rehabilitation Center: Developing many advanced techniques in treating injuries

(Baonghean) -In operation since 1985,Vinh Orthopedic - Rehabilitation Centerincreasingly developing and becoming a prestigious medical examination and treatment address.

Bright spot in treatment for poor patients

In early September, the Vinh Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center at 41 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street welcomed many special patients. These were poor students from Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces suffering from Delta muscle fibrosis. The long-term illness caused their bodies to become deformed and some of them became severe.

And perhaps, the disease would have persisted if a month ago the children had not been screened and diagnosed by doctors at the Vinh Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center. Severe cases are also supported by the Center to undergo free surgery and support the costs of food, accommodation and travel.

Free surgery at Vinh Orthopedic - Rehabilitation Center.

Among the cases that have undergone surgery, Nguyen Manh Tai (born in 2001) in Hamlet 3, Nghi Phong Commune, Nghi Loc District is a special case. Tai's house is not too far from Vinh City, but due to difficult circumstances and his parents' busy lives, he has never been to the hospital for a health check since he was a child. Perhaps that is why, although he has an unusual deformity, Tai and his family do not know.

Even when he was on leave from school many times, Tai helped his father with the bus and carried goods. He felt pain in his shoulder and had difficulty moving, but he still subjectively thought it was due to the weather. Only recently, after being screened at school, did Tai learn that he had Delta muscle fibrosis.

The case of Ho Quoc Tu (born in 2004) in Hamlet 7, Quynh Lien, Hoang Mai Town is similar. Having suffered from Delta muscle fibrosis for nearly 10 years, he has always had an inferiority complex and low self-esteem, especially when recently his shoulder blades have become increasingly large and ugly, and his elbows cannot touch each other like normal people...

Tu's mother also said: No one in my family has a congenital disability, so I have been subjective about my child's illness because he lives normally. Only after receiving advice from the doctor did I fully understand the danger. If the doctors had not come to examine, screen and perform free surgery, I don't know how long my child would have suffered from the disease.

Each year, the Center performs 500 - 700 surgeries and assembles 300 - 400 assistive orthopedic devices. Photo: Thu Huong

Up to now, the Delta Fibrosarcoma Surgery Program for poor students in Nghe An, implemented by Vinh Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center in collaboration with the Vietnam Center for Supporting Disabled Children, has completed 2/3 of the journey with over 200 children receiving free surgery. Before implementing the program, Vinh Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center went to schools across the province to screen students.

During the treatment at the Center, students are exempted from surgery costs and supported with travel and accommodation expenses. In addition, depending on each case, doctors will advise, guide, and evaluate the results after 3 months, 6 months or 1 year.

Sharing about this program, Dr. Nguyen Minh Cong - Director of Vinh Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center said: Since 2006, Delta muscle fibrosis has been detected in the two provinces of Ha Tinh and Nghe An and the Center is one of the first units to perform surgery. Currently, through examination, the number of patients with fibrosis is still high and mainly concentrated in students, most of them in secondary school.

Every year, the Center invites foreign medical experts from Australia, the US, the Netherlands... to examine and provide free consultation to the children. Photo: Thu Huong

Develop many modern and advanced techniques

Up to now, after more than 10 years of implementation, Vinh Orthopedic - Rehabilitation Center has successfully performed surgery for thousands of patients with Delta muscle fibrosis. This is also the main reason why for many consecutive years, the Center has been trusted by many domestic and foreign charitable organizations when implementing charity surgery programs.

In addition to Delta muscle fibrosis, in the past 5 years, the center has also developed burn plastic surgery techniques. The program, coordinated by the center with the National Burn Institute, Hanoi Medical University and Saint Paul Hospital, has brought much hope to poor patients, especially those in remote, isolated and disadvantaged areas.

Previously, through screening, it was also shown that there were still many patients with sequelae due to burns in Nghe An. However, due to difficult conditions, the number of patients treated was very small, causing patients to have many complexes in their lives. Notably, many burn plastic surgery programs were performed free of charge or supported with much lower costs compared to treatment in big cities.

The success in implementing difficult techniques is also the new direction of Vinh Orthopedic - Rehabilitation Center with the goal of building an Orthopedic - Rehabilitation Hospital in the future. Currently, with 80 beds, including 50 inpatient beds and 30 outpatient beds, the Center is ranked by the Provincial People's Committee as equivalent to a grade 3 hospital.

During its operation, in response to the increasing demand for patient treatment and the growing domestic orthopedic industry, the Center has continuously improved and applied new scientific and technological advances in rehabilitation treatment, orthopedic surgery, production of prosthetic limbs and assistive devices.

The center comes to schools to provide free medical examinations. Photo: My Ha

Thanks to that, up to now, many high-tech techniques have been applied at the center such as: Laser treatment, treatment of spinal diseases by stretching techniques, ultrasound treatment, electric pulse, muscle stimulation, shortwave, thermotherapy such as: Infrared, Parapin, production and assembly of Modula prosthetic legs and arms with quality equal to that of Southeast Asia.

In addition to technical development and medical staff, the Center has received investment from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, and Nghe An Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in modern and advanced facilities and equipment to meet the production of high-quality orthopedic instruments at regional level.

Dr. Nguyen Minh Cong - Director of Vinh Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center shared: Under the current regulations, the Center faces many difficulties in its operations because the Center is under the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs but performs the functions of a public health facility. However, despite limited funding for policy beneficiaries and many shortcomings in the treatment of patients with health insurance cards, the Center still strives to increasingly improve its examination and treatment capacity.

The unit's leaders also hope that from this reality, when the Center is transformed into a Hospital, it will be a very important condition for the unit to develop a plan and direction of operations to attract human resources and have conditions to strengthen facilities and connections. More importantly, it will help the unit to be more convenient in serving policy beneficiaries, the poorest disabled people, especially those with health insurance cards, because in 2018, there will be a provincial connection in medical examination and treatment.

Thu Huong - My Ha