Patient Le Dinh Thuan can walk comfortably with crutches after only 1 month of major surgery
Speedy recovery after "2 in 1" surgery
One month after major surgery, Mr. Le Dinh Thuan (1 years old, Thanh Hoa) is trying to restore function so he can quickly return home to celebrate Tet with his family. Looking at him walking comfortably with crutches, even being able to go up and down stairs without assistance, few people know that he has just undergone the most complex major surgery in the bone cancer industry, completely replacing his pelvis. and a part of the femur made of artificial material.
Nearly a year ago, after discovering a tumor in his lung, Mr. Thuan had surgery to remove the tumor. But some time later, he had hip pain again and discovered a bone tumor located in an extremely dangerous position. Bone cancer in the hip joint is rare (less than 1%) compared to other cancers. In particular, metastasis that invades the pelvis, joint capsule and upper femur like Mr. Thuan's case is much rarer.
Patient Thuan (center) was discharged from the hospital to the joy of his family and medical team
Because it was a complicated disease, many of the hospitals he had previously visited prescribed surgery to remove one side of the pelvis to save his life. This means that it will be almost impossible for the patient to have a prosthetic leg fitted, and the entire abdominal structure will be at risk of falling down, requiring mesh coverings. Even the death rate on the operating table can be up to 25%. Therefore, Mr. Thuan and his family have repeatedly refused treatment according to this option.
It wasn't until he went to Vinmec for a checkup that Mr. Thuan began to have hope that one day he would be able to walk again. On December 22, 12, he underwent a complex surgery lasting 2023 hours with the participation and close coordination of Vinmec multi-specialty doctors including vascular, digestive, and urinary surgery. urology and vascular intervention and VinUni 8D Technology Center engineers.
The surgery to replace both pelvis and part of the femur at the same time was successful without any complications, especially losing just over 2 liters of blood during the surgery. This is a record time because it usually takes 2 - 8 hours to replace just the pelvic bone.
"Now, I have really Being able to walk, Vinmec doctors can do very difficult things that very few hospitals in Vietnam can do.", Mr. Thuan expressed when leaving the hospital. Before that, just 2 days after surgery, he was able to sit up on his own and after 10 days, he was able to practice moving proficiently on crutches alone. “The artificial bone replacement can support a body weight of 73 kg without feeling any pain.”, Mr. Thuan shared. It is known that his total recovery time was shortened to only 1/3 of the usual time.
Prof. Dr. Tran Trung Dung, Director of Vinmec Orthopedics Center shares the treatment process with illustrated models used directly..
3D Titan artificial bone design - A new step in bone cancer treatment in Vietnam
For this special case, doctors at Vinmec Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine (CTCH) had to "weigh their brains" to come up with the most appropriate and safe treatment plan. Professor, PhD. Tran Trung Dung, Director of the CTCH Center, said that the key point is that after surgery to remove the bone tumor, the defect in the pelvis and femur must also be reconstructed to help the patient move and walk.
Therefore, the most difficult problem is choosing the type of material and how to graft artificial bone to recreate the shape and function of the bone in the area of the body that bears the greatest force. Through consultation and research, doctors and engineers agreed to choose Titanium material to meet the load and durability requirements.
However, difficulty on top of difficulty, world medical literature has never recorded a case of simultaneously replacing both the pelvis and the upper half of the femur to treat cancer, nor is there any device company available with an artificial pelvis solution. to replace this case. “If dOrdering foreign products to research and manufacture takes at least 2 months, while the patient needs surgery as soon as possible to prevent the tumor from progressing and becoming invasive. Because for cancer patients, time is gold" Professor, PhD. Tran Trung Dung shared.
Master of Science II Pham Trung Hieu shared about the latest advances in 3D technology in medicine applied to complex bone tumors.
Therefore, the only way is for the surgeon team to design their own artificial bone implant for this patient. After more than 2 weeks of racing against time, continuously testing on nearly 100 prototypes with simulated situations, engineers and doctors have chosen the most optimal design for the case. “We used a structure that simulates the morphology of the pelvis with a hollow honeycomb shape to make the entire artificial bone light.. With the same material made from biocompatible medical Titanium alloy, after 3D printing and heating, it can withstand loads more than 10 times greater than real bone.", doctor Pham Trung Hieu, Deputy Director of 3D Technology Center shared.
Doctor Hieu also said that instead of having to screw in about 10 - 12 screws or make a splint to fix the remaining iliac wing, the engineers only used a total of 5 screws, the screw location is underground so the patient There is absolutely no feeling that there is material in the body, and motor function can be quickly restored. This is the idea of Vietnamese engineers and doctors, but no facility in the world has built this model.
After the testing process in Vietnam, the pelvic design was sent to Germany for production using a 3D printing system in accordance with European CE medical implant standards. Worth mentioning, the process of manufacturing and importing product samples from abroad only takes 1 week, much less than the minimum time of 2 months if ordering from start to finish.
With the cooperation of experts from 3D printing powers such as Germany, Belgium and Israel, doctors and engineers are continuing to research and perfect artificial bone implant products from materials such as Titanium and Peek. . It is expected that in the next 1 or 2 years, these products will be licensed to be manufactured and commercially produced so that they can be widely used and save time and costs for patients.
It can be said that the success of this "2 in 1" surgery has brought Vietnam's bone cancer treatment to a new page. Thereby affirming the expertise and solid and accurate treatment strategies of the team of Vietnamese doctors and engineers, as well as the efforts and creativity in applying technology, finding treatment plans, New direction for bone cancer patients.
PV
