“The plateau is already hypoxic, and the patient’s lung function is still so poor, how to do surgery?” conduct. Hua Rong, a member of the eighth batch of medical personnel in Shanghai “group-style” medical aid team to Tibet and deputy chief physician of the Thoracic Surgery Department of Shanghai Chest Hospital, carried out the first inflatable media statoscope radical operation for oesophageal cancer in Shigatse People’s Hospital.
Patients who had no chance of surgery regained their hope of life. This technique is carried out for the first time in Tibet, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The Tibetan always feels a sense of obstruction when he eats more food for the first time. In recent days, his dysphagia symptoms have become more and more serious. So, the old man came to the People’s Hospital of Shigatse after various travels.
After the diagnosis, he found out that he had oesophageal cancer, and the diameter of the tumour had exceeded 4 centimetres! Hua Rong and Dawa Qiongda, director of the local thoracic surgery department, led a team to carefully assess the old man’s condition, and organized multidisciplinary discussions in the anaesthesiology department, operating room, and intensive care unit.
The doctors discussed and believed that the patient had lived on the plateau for a long time and had bad habits such as smoking, which led to poor lung function and extremely high surgical risks. This surgery, to do or not to do? Huarong finally decided to use the “minimally invasive inflatable mediastinoscopy technology” to perform this operation on the patient.
Traditional oesophageal cancer surgery involves resection of the tumour through the thoracic cavity, which requires high lung function. Pneumatic mediastinoscopy is a type of minimally invasive surgery. It does not pass through the thoracic cavity, but completes the resection of the diseased esophagus in the mediastinal “channel”, which has little impact on the patient’s respiratory and circulatory functions. Since this operation was carried out for the first time in Tibet, Qingjiang, Hua Rong led the team to formulate a detailed operation plan and emergency plan.
As a rear support unit, the Chest Hospital immediately provided relevant medical equipment, and sent them to Shigatse People’s Hospital in time through the Tibet Aid Team. The operation was carried out as scheduled. During the operation, Huarong overcame the challenge of plateau hypoxia.
First, a small hole was made in the patient’s neck, inserted into the mediastinoscopy, and slowly dissociated to the abdominal cavity. The lower part was then dissociated upwards through the laparoscope, and the two ends were opened to establish a Create a “channel” in the mediastinum.
With solid experience and superb technology, the team successfully resected the oesophageal lesion completely, and the operation was successful. According to Hua Rong, in plateau areas, the high altitude causes most people to suffer from chronic hypoxia, and the proportion of local people who smoke and suffer from chronic lung inflammation is not low.
In addition, the medical conditions are relatively backward, so many patients with oesophageal cancer can only choose Conservative treatment delays the best time for treatment. The development of inflatable mediastinoscopy esophageal surgery can bring new treatment hope for these frail elderly, poor lung function, severe lung inflammation and patients who have undergone lung cancer surgery.
