Associate Professor Le Thanh Hai, director of the Central Children’s Hospital, said tens of children have undergone robot-assisted laparoscopic surgeries at the hospital and no complications have been reported. Robot-assisted laparoscopy is a necessary condition for surgeons to conduct complex operations on people with hard-to-treat diseases.

According to Dr. Pham Duy Hien, deputy head of the Surgery Department of the hospital, robot-assisted surgery, which uses robotic systems to aid in surgical procedures, is developed to overcome the limitations of minimally-invasive surgery and to enhance the capabilities of surgeons performing open surgery.

Hien said with robot-assisted surgery techniques, patients do not have to suffer heavy pains, and they can recover well and can leave hospital for just three to four days after the surgeries.

He emphasized that robotic laparoscopic technique is considered the future of surgical science in the world. 

The establishment of the pediatric endoscopy surgery center belonging to the hospital, therefore, has important significance, because it helps Vietnamese children access the latest medical achievements for healthcare.  

Local newspapers last week reported that the hospital has saved a 5-year-old boy by conducting robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery which lasted six hours. The boy, from Laos, was hospitalized in very bad condition because of a common bile duct cyst. He is now recovering.

“Just imagine that you are playing the ‘surgery game’ in the virtual world,” Hien said when asked about the necessary skills to conduct the surgery.

“The robot’s arm can rotate by 540 degrees, while the success of the operation depends on the gamers’ ingenuity,” he added. 

However, while stressing the great advantages of robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery, Hien said it was costly.

“It takes VND60-80 million,” Hien said, adding that the operations are not funded by medical insurance agencies.

Hien said the instruments needed for the surgeries are very expensive. An electronic lancet, priced at VND200 million, can be used for  eight to 10 surgeries. Meanwhile, a pair of gloves for a robot is VND11 million.

The Central Children’s Hospital, in an effort to develop an advanced surgery skill to help save more patients, is working with the Ministry of Health and medical insurance agencies, persuading insurers to get involved in the laparoscopic surgery development program.

Analysts reassured the public, saying that the costs of the surgeries would be lower in the future, when more countries can produce robots. They cited foreign sources as saying that South Korea and Japan are planning to manufacture smart robots.

VnMedia