Stem cell transplant is a safe and potentially beneficial treatment for patients with spinal cord injuries in Viet Nam and around the world. Thanks to the advanced therapy, patients with spinal cord injuries can regain independence and improve their mobility, whilst the high risk of paralysis will be minimised.

Doctors from the Da Nang General Hospital transplanting stem cells into the spine of a local patient with spinal cord injuries

The Da Nang General Hospital is the second public medical establishment in Viet Nam, after the Viet Duc Hospital in Ha Noi, to have applied this advanced medical technique.

Dr Nguyen Huu Lam from the municipal hospital’s Neurology Department noted that one of the most important conditions for implementing the stem cell transplant is that time since having a spinal cord injury has been less than one year, the ages of the patients range from 20 to 60 years, and what levels of general paralysis are.

According to some studies worldwide, this stem cell therapy has fewer side effects, and it is very effective in improving motor and sensory functions, and in enhancing the quality of patients’ lives. The recovery rate is between 10 and 50%.

The hospital’s Director Le Duc Nhan remarked that stem cell transplant for treating spinal cord injury is one of the most advanced medical techniques in public medical establishments. This would help create a premise for establishing a stem cell transplantation centre at the hospital, the first of its kind in the central region.

Dr Nhan said that his hospital received a total of around 500 cases of spinal cord injuries every year, only 100 of which are treated with stem cell transplant.

He added the stem cell transplant has been applied at the hospital since 2016. To date, 12 patients with spinal cord injuries have been transplanted stem cells successfully at the hospital, and their surgery costs have been covered by Japan’s Kitano Hospital.