Doctor races against death to save man with perforated heart and liver

A man residing in Dinh Hoa, Thai Nguyen was admitted to Thai Nguyen Central Hospital in critical condition with multiple knife wounds to the abdomen and chest.

Upon admission, doctors diagnosed him with a perforated liver and heart and required emergency surgery. The hospital's "red alert" system was immediately activated. However, upon being taken to the operating room, the patient hypotension and cardiac arrest

According to Dr. Lo Quang Nhat, Head of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, the team had to race against death during the two-hour surgery. During the surgery, he continued to lose a lot of blood, blood clots compressed the pericardium, and circulatory arrest up to three times.

The patient's heart stopped beating. Doctors performed chest compressions to revive the heart. However, the bleeding continued, and the surgical team determined that there was heart damage, so they quickly opened the chest to control it.

When opening the pericardium, the doctors discovered a complex perforation of the apex of the ventricle with 5 holes. The wound was nearly 3 cm long, causing massive blood loss. He continued to stop his heart for the third time. The doctor performed direct cardiac massage, urgently sutured the punctures, and at the same time preserved the damaged coronary branches as much as possible. During the surgery, the patient was transfused with 5 liters of blood and other preparations.

After the stressful surgery, the patient's heart started beating again and responded well to vasopressors. Seven days after surgery, he was alert and did not need any supportive medication. He made a full recovery and was discharged after more than 20 days of intensive care.