A nurse checks the health of an American patient at Đà Nẵng General Hospital. The 37-year-old patient had a spinal tumour removed at the hospital. — Photo courtesy of  Đà Nẵng General Hospital

ĐÀ NẴNG — Doctors at Đà Nẵng General Hospital successfully performed an operation to remove an intradural extramedullary tumour in the lumbar vertebrae of an American patient, who has recovered sufficiently to be able to walk two days later.

Doctor Lê Quang Huy, a neurosurgeon at the hospital, said it was a complicated surgery. The 3cm intraspinal tumour was located in close connection with the conus medullaris and cauda equina nerve roots, Huy said.

It required the use of a neurosurgical microscope for tumour removal from the neural structure, while leaving the functional nerve roots healthy, Huy said.

The surgical team encountered some difficulty, as the patient suffered from obesity, but doctors were able to complete the operation within three hours, he noted.

Doctors from Đà Nẵng General Hospital in the operating room to remove a spinal tumour for an American patient. — Photo courtesy of Đà Nẵng General Hospital

The 37-year-old patient could move by himself without any neurological deficit just two days after the surgery, the doctor said.

Hospital deputy director Nguyễn Thành Trung said the patient’s choice to undergo surgery in Đà Nẵng demonstrated trust in the quality of Vietnamese surgery and medical services at the facility.

The success of the complicated operation once again proves the skills and expertise of the hospital’s doctors, as well as medical services in Việt Nam, he said.

Trung also said that the cost of the operation ranges from VNĐ20 million (US$800) to VNĐ30 million ($1,200), much lower than what the same procedure could cost in the US (anywhere from $35,000 to $60,000).

The patient walks with a nurse at Đà Nẵng General Hospital two days after the surgery. — Photo courtesy of Đà Nẵng General Hospital

Earlier this year, a patient from the Republic of Korea was saved at the hospital after suffering severe respiratory failure with critically low blood pressure.

According to Đà Nẵng General Hospital, its doctors have successfully completed 44 organ and tissue transplants – including kidneys, bone marrow and liver – since 2006, when the facility was recognised as a kidney transplant centre by the Ministry of Health.

The hospital's stroke centre was also awarded platinum status by the World Stroke Organization Angels Awards for their efforts in caring for stroke patients in 2021.

Đà Nẵng has 12 hospitals with 1,000 doctors and more than 620 consulting rooms and medical care centres.

Four of the city's international-standard hospitals – Đà Nẵng General Hospital, Family Hospital, Hoàn Mỹ-Đà Nẵng and VinMec Đà Nẵng – are qualified to provide an international health service standard for both Vietnamese and foreigners. — VNS