Doctors from Gia Định People’s Hospital and Gò Vấp District Hospital in HCM City on March 24 successfully perform a hip replacement surgery for a 53-year-old patient. Photo Courtesy of the Gia Định People’s Hospital

HCM CITY— Doctors at many district-level hospitals in HCM City have begun to perform complex surgeries thanks to training they are receiving from counterparts in top public hospitals.

Doctors from the trauma and orthopaedics department at Gia Định People’s Hospital and Gò Vấp District Hospital, for instance, successfully performed a hip replacement surgery on March 24 for a 53-year-old patient who had osteonecrosis of the femoral head.

After the one-hour surgery, the patient was expected to walk with a walker after just one day.

His mobility is likely to be nearly 90 per cent restored.

He had been suffering from hip pain for a year, and doctors at the Gò Vấp District Hospital prescribed the surgery.

In the past they would send such patients to higher-level hospitals since they could not perform such surgeries.

Dr Vũ Hoàng Hà, the hospital’s deputy head, said 30 patients requiring hip replacement used to come every month and be sent to larger hospitals.

Such patients would no longer be sent elsewhere, and this would help reduce the crowding at the apex hospitals, he said.   

According to Dr Nguyễn Việt Trung, head of the department of trauma and orthopaedics at Gia Định People’s Hospital, said hip replacement is a difficult surgery that requires “professional” anaesthetists and well-trained and experienced surgeons.   

“If the surgery is not performed well, there will be complications such as bleeding and infection which will affect the patient’s mobility and even life.”  

Doctors from Gia Định will continue to go to the Gò Vấp District Hospital to perform hip replacement surgeries until it can do without them.

This is a part of the city Department of Health’s programme for improving the skills of doctors at many district-level hospitals that are categorised as second level. Gia Định and several other major public hospitals are categorised as level one.

Chợ Rẫy Hospital is a central-run facility that is categorised as ‘special.’

Bình Chánh District Hospital, District 7 Hospital and others are also assisted by Gia Định, People’s Hospital 115, Lê Văn Thịnh General Hospital, and Thủ Đức City Hospital.

This had improved the skills of the doctors in those hospitals, earning the trust of patients, the department said.  

In July last year doctors at the District 7 Hospital admitted a nine-year-old patient who had been pierced by a sharp object and whose heart had stopped beating.

Doctors persisted with tracheal intubation and resuscitated him, and, along with their counterparts from Children's Hospital 2, managed to save the boy. VNS