Socialist Republic of Vietnam

by Hoang Nam

Orthopedic surgeon Vo Van Thanh spends four to five days a week in surgery treating spinal injuries.

Each operation takes from two to eight hours.

Then, the overseer of HCM City’s Trauma – Orthopedics Hospital Spine A department, spends his last working day of the week consulting and treating the most seriously injured.

He has been a specialist for spinal chord injuries opanning 30 years.

His department performs about 700 operations and checks about 18,000 patients each year and in 1989 Thanh was among the surgeons to separate co-joined twins Viet and Duc.

Thanh, 54, is accredited with 62 scientific research projects but how does he find time for the work?

"My colleagues and I complete our projects while we are operating and consulting because they are all treatment techniques," he says.

"The treatment of spinal injuries in Viet Nam has developed significantly in the past ten years. New technologies and modern machines help us to treat patients better and more efficiently."

Thanh has adapted international scientific research to his own methods.

"Technology is developing quickly and this requires Vietnamese physicians to constantly increase their knowledge," says Thanh.

"But conditions for scientific research are poor and equipment in short supply. My methods take conditions in Viet Nam into account."

Nevertheless, Viet Nam’s spine specialists match 80 per cent of what their peers in developed countries can do.

"That’s a good result considering we lack so much," says Thanh.

Thanh focuses on training the next generation to bridge the gap to international standards and most physicians in his department have studied abroad for six months to five years.

"Studying abroad and gaining experience of the reality of Viet Nam is the best way for us to improve our medicine," he says.

Thanh has taught thousands of students. His experience in spinal treatment has helped the next generation to progress.

Thanh is happy to discuss improvements in spinal treatment, such as much shorter incisions and recovery times and a sharp increase in patient general health.

"These are remarkable results. We couldn’t have imaged such great development," he says.

As a deputy-president of the Viet Nam Spine and Trauma – Orthopedics Association, and a member of numerous international spine associations, Thanh has held seven international scientific seminars in Viet Nam intended to bring the country closer to the development of developed countries.

Fourteen of his scientific research projects have been discussed at international seminars.

The surgeon says that most spinal injuries in Viet Nam stem from labour and traffic accidents and these are increasing with urbanisation creating a heavy burden for society.

Spine surgery is more expensive than other operations, ranging from VND10 million, US$630, to VND40 million ($2,600).

"The number of patients is increasing and most of them are poor; this is the biggest difficulty for us," he says.

But financial help, especially from the HCM City’s Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients, has enabled the Spine A department to treat 70 per cent of its patients with spinal injuries for free or a fee reduced from $1,500 to $3,000.

Thousands of patients have received help from the department and in August 2000, the surgeon’s help of poor patients earned him an order of merit.

"Though we have made a lot of progress in the treatment of patients, I myself still think that if our department could give emergency aid to patients, we could reduce the number of people who end up paralysed.

As it is, patients have to wait for hours to receive first aid due to poor facilities," says Thanh.

He also believes a recovery centre to take care of patients after surgery is needed.

"A centre like that would help both reduce the burden on society and on patients’ families.

The centre would reduce the incidence of inappropriate treatment and help patients recovery in a shortest time," he says.

"But such a centre needs a huge amount of money, so my dream is still a dream."

Thanh has collected images for his research for the next generation.

He also has a website – webshots.com/thanhvmd – with hundreds of photographs from his travels.

"This is a quiet space for me to relax before my hard work," he says of the website that has had more than 22,000 hits.

Thanh’s incisions have been receiving as much interest as his travel photography.

In May this year, his latest scientific project, "Application of minimally invasive spine surgery," was presented to the HCM City People’s Committee.

The surgeon was honoured with the title "Meritorious Doctor" by President Tran Duc Luong early in 2001 and received the Labour Order, Third Class, late last year. — VNS