On Tuesday, doctors from the Da Nang General Hospital and the Kitano Hospital in Japan jointly transplanted stem cells into the spine of a 42-year-old man from Son Tra District who had suffered his spinal cord injuries in a traffic accident 6 months ago.

The operation in progress (Photo: vov.vn)

It took 8 hours for the surgeons to extract stem cells from his pelvic area and then inject them into his lumbar spinal cord. 

This was the first operation of its kind to have been conducted in the city, and the Da Nang General Hospital is only the second public medical establishment in Viet Nam, after the Viet Duc Hospital in Ha Noi, to have applied this advanced medical technique.

In the past, the focus was on removing fragments of bone, herniated discs, fractured vertebrae or foreign objects, and then stabilising the spine to minimise any pain or future deformity.  After initial treatment, the patient would then begin a programme of rehabilitation.

The stem cell transplant is a new development in treating spinal cord injuries, with patients having better recovery rates after such surgery compared with the old method.  A stem cell transplant usually costs about 40 million VND.

The Kitano Hospital has pledged to cover the surgery costs of the first 30 patients with spinal cord injuries at the local hospital.