Vietnam: First successful lumbar disc replacement

On December 18, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Thach, Director of the Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Head of the Spinal Surgery Department (Viet Duc Hospital) said that the first case of lumbar disc replacement at the hospital was successful. This is also the first time in Vietnam that this technique has been successful.

Previously, in 2013, the lumbar disc replacement surgery was performed at Viet Duc Hospital with the support of French experts. Up to now, after 2 years of surgery, the patient is completely healthy and pain-free. This time, the surgery was performed entirely by Viet Duc doctors and was successful.

Doctors perform lumbar disc replacement surgery for a patient. Photo: H.Hai

This is a female patient, over 40 years old, in Ninh Binh. The patient has had back pain since 2000. This disease has tormented the patient, causing her to be in constant pain. The patient has also undergone many treatments, from internal medicine such as taking medicine, to direct injections into the spinal disc many times. There were continuous injections for 12 days into the spine, but the condition has become increasingly worse. The herniated disc disease causes the patient a lot of pain, pain in both legs, sometimes making it impossible to walk.

“When arriving at the Spinal Surgery Department (Viet Duc Hospital), the patient was indicated for spinal disc replacement because the patient's disc was completely damaged and lost its function, causing the patient a lot of pain,” Associate Professor Thach said.

Associate Professor Thach added that only those who suffer from herniated disc disease can understand the pain that makes them want to “die and come back to life”, affecting the patient’s life and activities terribly. Especially with the lumbar disc, which has to bear the entire weight of the body, making the patient even more painful.

On the morning of December 18, the surgery took place and after 2 hours, the surgery was successful. Previously, Viet Duc Hospital had also successfully performed many artificial disc replacements in the cervical spine, but this was the first time it had replaced an artificial disc in the lumbar spine.

Because this is a difficult technique, because the lumbar disc must bear the entire weight of the body. Moreover, when intervening, one must be very careful to avoid damaging the organs by starting from the abdomen, "freeing" the access to remove all damaged discs before placing the artificial disc.

Associate Professor Thach said that this technique is completely different from disc grafting. The spine has fixed segments, semi-mobile segments, and mobile segments. The graft is rigid and immobilizes the spine, making it difficult for the patient to move. Not to mention, it also causes "neighbor syndrome", which means it will damage the upper and lower discs adjacent to the disc graft. According to statistics, after 1 year of grafting, 1.5 - 2% of patients will have adjacent disc damage. Meanwhile, artificial discs ensure almost normal function. Patients can move completely normally, lean left and right, flex, bend, lean back, etc.

The cost of a lumbar disc replacement is about 50 million VND, not yet covered by health insurance, but doctors are still determined to implement the technique so that patients can benefit. However, because the cost is still expensive, the criteria for selecting patients are very strict. Only those with damaged discs, loss of function, or painful disc collapse are indicated for this technique.

It is known that the cost of spinal surgery in Vietnam is still the cheapest in the world. In countries like Singapore, Korea, etc., a similar surgery costs 6-7 times more.

According to dantri.com.vn