A doctor at the HCM City University Medical Centre’s day surgery unit speaks with a patient. (Photo courtesy of the hospital)HCM
City (VNS/VNA) – Less invasive s are being
performed during one-day stays at many public hospitals in HCM City,
resulting in lower costs, reduced incidences of infections contracted
during hospital stays, and reduction in patient overcrowding.
Cho Ray Hospital, University Medical Centre, Children Hospital No.1, Children
Hospital No.2, the Municipal Children Hospital, Trung Vuong Hospital, Thu Duc
District Hospital are among the hospitals offering day surgery that allows
patients to return home several hours after surgery.
For years, T.V.M., a 54-year-old man from HCM City, suffered external
haemorrhoids until he recently visited Thu Duc District Hospital for
and treatment. He was advised to undergo to treat the
disease.
Tests were completed in the morning and he underwent 30-minute surgery in
the afternoon. He was discharged from the hospital one hour later.
“It is more convenient and less stressful than an in-hospital stay. The
cost of surgery is only one third of inpatient surgery,” he said.
According to Dr. Mai Hoa, head of the hospital’s department of general surgery,
doctors examine and give advice on whether patients are candidates for day
surgery to ensure the best possible patient outcomes.
A patient’s medical history is important in determining if the procedure can
be performed on a day surgery basis.
Elderly patients and patients with chronic diseases such as heart disease,
diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis are not candidates for day surgery.
“Day surgery is best performed by surgeons and anesthesiologists with
extensive experience,” Hoa said.
Lam Viet Trung, head of Cho Ray Hospital’s digestive surgery department, said
the department had issued a list of day surgery procedures, with patient
safety as the first priority.
Day surgery helps cut the costs of treatment and the time needed for
in-hospital stays and reduces patient overload at the hospital, according
to Trung.
Nearly two-thirds of all procedures are conducted on a day surgery basis
in the US. However, the figure remains low in Vietnam.
In developed countries, most patients want to undergo day surgery to
save costs, which are very high. In Vietnam, hospital
costs remain low and patients are worried about possible
complications after surgery, making day surgery an uncommon choice.
The HCM City University Medical Centre offers more than 470 procedures
performed on a day surgery basis in a wide range of specialties such as
digestive, urology, gynaecology, dental, ear, nose and throat, and
plastics and reconstructive surgery.
Around 15-20 cases of day surgery are performed at the hospital each day.
Phan Ton Ngoc Vu, head of the hospital’s day surgery unit, said the hospital
had seen an annual rise of 20 per cent in the number of patients
undergoing day surgery.
“Patients are allowed to leave the hospital within six hours after day surgery
and the incidences of complications are very small,” Vu said./.
Source: VietnamPlus
