A doctor at Bình Dân Hospital examines a 46-year-old patient from HCM City who had an endoscopic thyroidectomy to treat a thyroid goitre. — Photo courtesy of the hospital

HCM CITY — A 46-year-old patient of HCM City was found to have a goitre by chance when she had her periodic health checkup.

At Bình Dân Hospital, doctors decided to perform an endoscopic thyroidectomy via an axillo - bilateral - breast - approach with an harmonic scalpel to treat the goitre.

A thyroidectomy is an operation that involves the surgical removal of all of the thyroid gland to help prevent a thyroid tumour from developing into cancer.

Compared to open surgery to remove the thyroid gland, this technique helps patients recover rapidly. The patient can walk and talk to doctors 24 hours after the surgery.

Dr Nguyễn Văn Việt Thành of Bình Dân Hospital in HCM City said the hospital performed surgeries on more than 1,000 patients with thyroid disease each year.

The endoscopic thyroidectomy via the axillo - bilateral - breast - approach with an harmonic scalpel leaves no scar on the neck.

“It is a safe and effective technique in the hands of well trained surgeons. The patient gets a cosmetic benefit,” Thành said.

Thyroid cancer

The technique is also used to treat thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancer is the ninth most frequent cancer in Việt Nam, with more than 5,400 incidences each year, but the rate of patients who are cured and free from the cancer is high, according to doctors.

On the website of the Ministry of Health, Dr Ngô Xuân Quý, head of the head and neck department at K Hospital in Hà Nội, which has seen an increase in patients with thyroid cancer, said the cancer accounts for 90 per cent of the total number of patients with cancers related to the endocrine system.

Thyroid cancer can be cured if it is detected and treated at an early stage, according to Quý.

The K Hospital performs surgeries on nearly 3,000 patients each year with disease related to the thyroid gland, most of which is cancer.

According to Quý, people’s awareness about screening for disease has improved. Many patients with cancers including thyroid cancer visit hospitals for examination and treatment when they realise they develop abnormal symptoms.

Thyroid cancer is often detected through periodic health checkups and can be treated early, resulting in a cure.

Surgery, radiotherapy, and treatment with medicine are used to treat thyroid cancer. — VNS