Hospital successfully performs double forearm transplant

The
surgery was part of the hospital conducted on
September 16. 

This
is the fourth time the hospital has implemented organ procurement and
transplant at the same time. The organs, which were taken from a brain-dead
donor, were transplanted to six patients.

The
patient who received the forearm transplant is an 18-year-old man who lost his
forearms three years ago due to injuries he sustained in an accidental
explosion. 

Since
then, he has faced difficulties in his daily life and been unable to
pursue his educational dreams.

Now,
nearly two months after the surgery, the patient’s wounds have healed and
the limbs are adapting well. The patient is able to hold things and use a
mobile phone. He still needs to undergo more physical therapy to improve his
range of movement.

Dr
Mai Hong Bang, Director of the Military Central Hospital 108, said the surgery
was an outstanding success in the field of limb transplantation in Vietnam
after the success of the first limb transplant from a live donor this January.

The
hospital successfully performed five other transplants on the same day. 

A
lung transplant was carried out on a 54-year-old male patient diagnosed with
primary pulmonary fibrosis, a liver transplant was carried out for a
patient with acute liver failure against a background of cirrhosis due to a
hepatitis B virus infection and two kidney transplants were done for
two separate patients with end-stage chronic renal failure.

The
hospital, in coordination with the National Coordinating Centre for Human Organ
Transplantation, also carried out a heart transplant for a patient with
end-stage dilated myocarditis at the Hanoi-based Vietnam-Germany
Friendship Hospital.

Bang
said the 10-hour long surgery to transplant organs for the six patients
required very close co-ordination and implementation among specialists in the
hospital.

“Twelve
operating tables were operating simultaneously with the participation of more
than 150 doctors, nurses, pharmacists and technicians. In particular,
the lung transplant case was coordinated by a team of experts from the Central
Lung Hospital,” he said. 

After
the transplants, all the patients are in stable health condition. The liver and
kidney transplant patients were discharged three weeks after surgery, and the
lung transplant patients were discharged four weeks after the procedure./.