National Hospital for Tropical Diseases surgeons perform life-saving surgery

Surgeons at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases successfully performed a life-saving operation on a 54-year-old man from Ha Tinh suffering from a massive lung abscess and a gastrointestinal fistula.

The patient presented with critical symptoms, including high fevers reaching 40.5 degrees Celsius, respiratory distress, and foul-smelling dark brown sputum. Medical imaging revealed a large consolidation in the right lung and a significant abscess measuring approximately 15x10 cm that interfered with the bronchial system.

A multidisciplinary surgical team, led by Dr. Tran Thuong Viet, discovered that the infection was not a simple lung abscess but was caused by a fistula from the right colon that had breached the diaphragm. During the five-hour procedure, surgeons drained the abscess, repaired the damaged diaphragm, and addressed the intestinal fistula. Following the intervention, the patient showed rapid recovery, with vital signs returning to normal within 24 hours.