In addition to conventional remedies for obesity treatment – medicines, diet modification, exercise regimen, etc. – surgery is an alternative, highly effective form of treatment.

Which surgical method is applied is usually customised to each patient on a case-by-case basis; options include gastric banding, sleeve gastrectomy and a gastric bypass. At FV Hospital, endoscopic surgery is usually applied in these surgical cases.

Head of General Surgery Do Minh Hung, MD, PhD, reveals that surgical treatment for obesity requires a cross-specialty protocol because it is now classified under the pathology group of obesity and metabolism.

Before deciding to undergo surgery, patients must be examined by an endocrinologist, cardiologist, respiratory doctor and a nutritionist so that a  comprehensive treatment regimen can be devised.

After surgery, patients should also be carefully monitored, especially with regards to their diet and exercise so that they can achieve their ideal weight. Thanks to the combination of cross-speciality expertise, FV has achieved excellent results.

In January 2017, Ms. N.T.H.T., 38, a Vietnamese-Australian expat who weighed 74 kg, reached out to FV Hospital for obesity treatment. Dr. Minh Hung decided to implement a sleeve gastretomy in her case.

Ms. N.T.H.T. says that she was overeating to the extent that she once reached 90 kg.

Ms. T. had had tried many types of weight loss pills but they didn’t have any impact on her size, and they had unexpected side effects, such as xerostomia and rapid weight gain as soon as she stopped using the drugs.

Using laparoscopic surgery, Dr. Hung formed her stomach into a long, vertical tube, dramatically reducing the proportion of food the patient could consume daily to around 50 ml to 60ml.

The surgery took place on 23 January 2017. A week afterwards, Ms. T was successfully discharged. On 23 February, one day before her flight back to Australia, Ms. T returned to FV hospital for a consultation with Nutritionist Dr Nguyen Viet Quynh Thu.

In order to lose weight successfully, Ms. T had to follow a scientific diet and consistently maintain healthy habits. Ms. T was extremely happy because by then she weighed only 67 kg (a reduction of nearly 10 per cent from her original weight), and was getting leaner.

Her hunger was also reduced significantly after the operation, and now that she can control her diet, Ms. T feels much more healthy and confident in herself.

In addition to Dr. Hung, the General Surgery Department of FV Hospital is also staffed by highly skilled doctors Le Duc Tuan, Phan Van Thai and Nguyen Quoc Thai.