Healthy outlook for lung cancer patients
Dr Wang Zhenwei (left) visited the patient on the afternoon after the surgery.
Shanghai medics are adopting a combination of internal physician and surgical expertise, as well as Western and traditional Chinese medicine, for lung cancer treatment and rehabilitation to achieve quicker recoveries.
Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine said it received a 69-year-old patient, who had been coughing blood for four months, with no diagnosis.
Checks at another hospital had found a lump in the right lower lung lobe, however detailed test results found it to be benign.
Doctors prescribed medicines and asked the patient to return home for further observation.
However, the patient's condition failed to improve. He went to Yueyang Hospital's respiratory disease center for help.
He was hospitalized for further check-ups and treatment. Though his bleeding was controlled, inner physicians failed to stop it completely.
He was transferred to a cardiothoracic surgery department for more detailed check.
Dr Chen Tongyu used an ultrafine bronchoscope, which is only 3 millimeters in diameter. He detected the source of the bleeding.
"After detailed discussion, we decided surgery was the best treatment," said Chen, who launched a surgery to remove the lobe with the lump.
A follow-up pathological check found it was cancer and doctors carried out another surgery to remove the entire right lower lung.
On the afternoon after the surgery, inner physicians took over the case again.
Dr Wang Zhenwei visited the patient and prescribed a specific herbal soup to streamline recovery and enhance immunity.
Dr Chen Tongyu (right), with a patient who recovered quickly after surgery.
The patient recovered quickly.
Yueyang officials said it is a typical case of the combination of internal physician and surgeon, Western medicine and TCM in lung cancer treatment, as patients are given different treatment and therapy in different stage of clinical practice by making the full use of the hospital's features of Western and TCM medicine.
"TCM has strong advantages in lung cancer treatment from pre-surgery and post-surgery," said Wang.
"Therapies like herbal soup, acupoint catgut embedding and TCM exercises can enhance the treatment outcome of Western medicine, reduce complications and speed up recovery."
