Doctors of Thu Duc District Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City have successfully operated a coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery on a 60-year-old patient with severely narrow blood vessels.

This is the first time the hospital has applied this type of operation without using an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, a technique providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to people whose heart and lungs are unable to sustain life.

CABG is the most common type of heart surgery on adults.

During the operation, a healthy artery or vein is grafted (attached) to a narrowed or blocked coronary artery, allowing it to 'bypass' the blocked artery and bring fresh blood to the heart.

Patient L.H.V. was admitted to the hospital on August 28 after suffering regular chest pain.

X-ray photos showed that his three heart vessels were severely narrow and dysfunctional, along with his underlying conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and pancreatic cancer having been treated with chemotherapy.

Given high risks faced by the patient, doctors consulted other health experts and decided to perform a CABG surgery using coronary material, without the need for an ECMO machine.

The surgery was a great success with the patient discharged from the hospital a week later.

This achievement is the result of Thu Duc District Hospital doctors learning heart surgery for three years. 

They were instructed by cardiologists of the Ho Chi Minh City Heart Institute and received technology transfer from them.

According to Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Van Phan, vice-director of the institute, not using the ECMO machine helped shorten operation time because of the patient’s critical conditions.

This technique is one of the most advanced heart surgery procedures, often performed at large hospitals only.

It helps reduce risks of mental health complications, pneumonia, kidney failure, heart failure, and coagulopathy.

Besides, it can cut operation time, fatality rates, and hospital costs, Phan added.

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