The District 11 Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City has successfully performed its first ever surgery to remove a pancreatic tumour.

Doctors at the District 11 Hospital in HCM City have successfully performed their first ever surgery to remove a tumour from a patient’s pancreas. (Photo Courtesy of District 11 Hospital)

The surgery was performed three weeks ago on a 37-year-old man who had a tumour on the head of his pancreas with assistance from doctors from the HCM City University Medical Centre. The man has to date recovered completely and been discharged.

The man from Tien Giang Province was brought to the hospital with abdominal pain and loss of weight. He had earlier been admitted to the provincial hospital, where his situation worsened.

A CT scan found the tumour, which was 80 per cent cancerous.

Doctors at the District 11 Hospital decided to perform the Whipple procedure, a complex operation to remove the head of the pancreas, the duodenum and a portion of the bile duct.

Even if the tumour had not been cancerous, the patient would have needed surgery because it could have led to cirrhosis and liver failure and death, they said.

Dr. Phan Thanh Long of the hospital said complications after this surgery are highly likely, at 30-50 per cent.

Ten days after a surgery, patients could still get complications, he said./.

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