Thailand's first endoscopic surgery performed in Siriraj Hospital

Southeast Asia's first endoscopic surgery was performed successfully at Siriraj Hospital on a cervicalcancer patient, allowing her to recover fully and giving her the chance of getting pregnant.

The surgeon behind the miracle, Assoc Prof Dr Perapong Inthasorn, told the press yesterday the patient had shown no adverse reactions and was menstruating normally. "The surgery took place a year ago," he said.

The patient, who is 30 now, said she was reluctant to have her uterus removed because she wanted to be given the chance to bear children.

"I consulted the doctor at the Siriraj Hospital and was told there was an option of endoscopic surgery. But he also said that such a procedure had never been performed in Thailand before. Yet I decided to go for it," she said.

According to Perapong, the surgery took about five hours and cost about Bt50,000. Patients under the universal healthcare or social security scheme are also entitled to this treatment.

"This is a choice for cancer patients at stage 1," he said. "They have a 90 to 95 per cent chance of recovery, just as she would have had if her uterus was removed."

He explained that endoscopic surgery was better than the conventional procedure as the surgical wound was much smaller. "So, there's less pain involved," he said.

Perapong went on to say that the endoscopy procedure helped surgeons to see small blood vessels clearly, thus allowing them to only remove the bad ones.

"The remaining blood vessels will serve to nourish the foetus if the patient becomes pregnant later," he said.

To date, about 50 patients across the world have successfully received treatment for cervical cancer via endoscopic surgery.

Clinical Prof Chanchai Vantanasiri, who heads the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said Siriraj Hospital saw 5,000 new cases of cervical cancer every year.

"Cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer among Thai women after breast cancer," he said.

Asst Prof Chairat Leelaphatanadit, who heads the faculty's Gynecologic Cancer Division, recommends that all women over the age of 35 and those who are sexually active, should have a pelvic examination at least once a year.

"The examination takes just five minutes and detecting the cancer early will provide a high chance of recovery," he said.