At the Lhorong County People's Hospital in Tibet, a patient with intestinal obstruction caused by volvulus was in danger. Five doctors from the seventh batch of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital medical team recently administered anaesthesia for endotracheal intubation of the difficult airway. After that, the patient was out of danger.
On the plateau with an average altitude of 3,700 meters, critically ill patients often need to be transferred for treatment, and face various risks that may occur during this process.
In April, this medical team carried out surgeries at a local hospital for two critically ill patients who should have needed to be transferred.
The surgical success also marks that Lhorong County People's Hospital has acquired the ability to treat high-risk patients in an emergency with the support of medical experts providing assistance in Tibet.
At the end of March, five medical staff members from the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital's departments of gastroenterology, orthopaedics, stomatology, anesthesiology and emergency medicine went to Lhorong County.
Doctors from Guangzhou and Lhorong County intubate the patient. (Photo provided to GDToday)
On April 8, the emergency department of Lhorong County People's Hospital admitted a pregnant woman who was in a coma and having convulsions.
Experts from Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Lhorong County quickly had a consultation and judged that the pregnancy must be terminated as soon as possible.
The evaluation showed that the patient's preoperative condition was not good, and there were no ICUs in the local area. If the endotracheal tube could not be removed after surgery, there was a high risk of postoperative complications.
The patient's vital signs were unstable, which was highly likely to result in accidents in the mid of transfer. Experts decided to perform emergency surgery immediately.
Under an extremely difficult situation, doctors cooperated to finish endotracheal intubation, invasive arterial blood pressure monitoring by ultrasound, as well as a three-hour general anaesthesia.
They finally saved the patient.
Experts from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital and Quanzhou conduct postoperative physical examinations for the patient. (Photo provided to GDToday)
Author | Hannah, Yao Jingsen (intern)
Editor | Wing, Nan, Monica, James
