District-level hospital performs first knee replacement surgery on hemophiliac patient

July 16, 2017 - 20:36

Doctors at Thủ Đức District Hospital last Wednesday (July 12) successfully performed the first knee replacement surgery and ligament reconstruction on a patient with hemophilia A, a genetic disorder of blood clotting.

Doctors of Thủ Đức District Hospital perform knee replacement surgery and ligament reconstruction on a patient with hemophilia A, a genetic disorder of blood clotting. —Photo Courtesy of Thủ Đức District Hospital
Viet Nam News

HCM CITY — Doctors at Thủ Đức District Hospital on July 12 successfully performed the first knee replacement surgery and ligament reconstruction on a patient with hemophilia A, a genetic disorder of blood clotting.

Hemophilia A is one of three types of the genetic disorders of blood clotting which can cause hemophilic arthropathy, known as joint disease, because of repeated bleeding into joints, Dr Nguyễn Thị Bích Uyên, deputy head of the hospital’s general internal medicine department.

Bleeding into joints may occur after an injury or spontaneously, she said.

The 23-year-old patient from the northern province of Thái Bình had been treated at the hospital’s department since 2016.

Tests showed that he had serious joint degeneration, a torn internal ligament and a stretched ligament on the outside of the right knee.

A surgery for knee replacement and ligament reconstruction needed to be performed, the hospital’s doctors said, adding that it is difficult to perform such as surgery on the patient with hemophilia A.

The risk of bleeding during and after the surgery is very high, they said.

That is reason why many hospitals, which the patient visited previously for treatment, were reluctant to perform the surgery.

The patient said that he wanted the surgery to be able to walk without pain.

After hearing his wish, the hospital’s doctors decided to perform surgery.

Now, he is recovering. There is no bleeding and he is getting physical therapy for rehabilitation.

The hospital is providing treatment for 100 patients with hemophilia.

The country has a total of 6,000 patients with hemophilia, but only 2,373 of them receive treatment, according to HCM City Blood Transfusion and Hematology Hospital. —VNS

 

 

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