Dr. Tran Ngoc Luong (C) has trained and transferred his technique on thyroid endoscopic surgery to a range of domestic and foreign experts. (Photo: nhandan.com.vn)

“ I preferred this surgery technique as I see that many patients recover quickly.

After the surgery, I can talk as normal. It’s so amazing”.

Those are some patients that had undergone the new thyroid endoscopic technique invented by Dr. Tran Ngoc Luong. The method is also called “Dr. Luong” technique.

The surgery is undertaken through small incisions on the skin in the armpit and chest, ranging from 0.5 to 1 cm, which would disappear after a few months. The old technique left the patients with an 8 to 12 cm scar on their necks. The new method not only applies to all different pathologies of the thyroid gland, such as goiter, Basedow disease and thyroid cancer, but also costs twenty-five times less than other countries.

“Most of goiter patients are young women. A scar on their necks will make them less self-confident. A great advantage of the thyroid endoscopic surgery is that it does not leave a scar on patient’s neck. In other countries, a thyroid endoscopic surgery using robots takes 2 hours but this new method only takes 20 to 30 minutes,” said Dr. Luong.

Dr. Luong's technique helps reduce costs and hospital stay for patients. (Photo: nhandan.com.vn)

The new method was invented following Dr. Luong’s training course in France and was first used in 2003.

“At first, I felt under pressure as I was the first to apply this new technique in Vietnam. After 3 to 4 hours, the surgery succeeded. I felt relieved,” Mr. Luong added.

A project on "Research and application of laparoscopic surgery to treat several thyroid diseases" won Luong a Vietnam Talent Award in 2014. It is a complicated technique that only a few doctors in the world could perform at that time.

More than 320 doctors from Southeast Asia, Pakistan, India, Australia and Portugal have visited Vietnam to learn the “Dr. Luong” technique. Professor Reyaz from Singapore, said: “Dr. Luong’s expertise is excellent. We want to apply this technique in Singapore. We find this technique excellent, especially helping patients recover soon after surgery”.