Doctor examines a patient in central Nghe An Province’s Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – A new
surgical technique developed by renowned obstetric , who
is also Deputy Health Minister, could replace the IVF (in-vitro fertilization)
method for thousands of infertile women.
The National
Hospital of and Gynecology announced
successful testing of the new technique last week.
It said the technique was studied
and carried out by Tien, known as the “golden hands” of Vietnam’s obstetrics
discipline.
The technique involves using a
“catheter” to broaden the internal orifice of the uterus via an endoscopy
through the womb and abdomen.
After more than 10 years of
study, the technique was successfully deployed on two women diagnosed with
secondary infertility.
The first patient, Nguyen
Thi Loan from the central
province of Nghe An, was diagnosed with
secondary infertility 8 years after she’d had her first baby.
Doctors found
that the she had an occlusion in the internal orifice of the uterus, preventing
her from getting pregnant.
Both women were in good health
following the surgery.
“A month after the operation, the
women’s internal OS have become normal. They can have babies in the natural way
after more than seven years of suffering secondary infertility,” Tien said.
According to the doctor, the
infertility rate in Vietnam was 7.7 percent at present. While either the wife
or the husband or both can be the cause of infertility, leading causes for the
woman were blocked fallopian tubes, occlusion of the internal orifice of the uterus,
polycystic ovary syndrome, uterine malformation and endometriosis.
Recent studies have found that
the rate of secondary infertility was about 60-70 percent of all cases of
.
“The percentage is very high.
Helping these couples have babies became a concern and a responsibility,” he
said.
“After many years of working as
doctor specialising in fertitlity treatment, I empathized with couples wanting
babies,” Tien told Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper.
Fertility treatment is usually
costly and takes many attempts to succeed, and many couples are left feeling
hopeless.
was an
option not all couples could afford. In many cases, couples took five to 10
years to save the money. But, unfortunately, the women’s ovaries aged during
this time, the doctor said.
The patients’ despair pushed Tien
and his colleagues to find an effective, affordable solution.
After years of research, the
doctor was able to fashion a new technique based on endoscopy of the womb and
abdomen.
“I am really confident about the
new method. Based on my experience, I am sure the patients will be able to have
babies normally”, Tien affirmed.
He said the new technique was
very safe and the side effects were minimal. The operation itself just took an
hour and a half.
Other methods carry high risks of
complications, he said.
Thanks to the new technique, the Center
for Reproductive Assistance is able to help dozens of patients every day.
“I can
confidently say that with this technique, IVF or surrogate pregnancies can become a thing of the past,” Tien said.
He said the
technique will soon be transferred to city and provincial-level obstetrics
hospitals to reduce overloading at the National Hospital of Obstetrics and
Gynecology.
“However, one
thing that concerns me now is that infertility treatment is not covered by
health insurance,” Tien said.
In many
developed countries, childless couples are covered for up to four IVF attempts,
he said.
But in Vietnam,
even tests are not paid for by health insurance.
“In my opinion,
the treatment has a humanitarian purpose, and we should consider this,” the
doctor said.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
