Doctor examines obese student with infection before discharge - Photo: Hospital provided
On the afternoon of July 3, Gia Dinh People's Hospital announced that it had successfully treated an obese student with a critical infection thanks to the application of venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) technique.
The patient is Ms. D.VYN, 22 years old, residing in Thai My commune, Ho Chi Minh City, currently a student at a university in Ho Chi Minh City. With a body mass index (BMI) of 37kg/m², Ms. N. is in the group of severe obesity level 3.
After receiving intensive treatment with almost completely stable organ function, Ms. N. was discharged from the hospital on July 2.
Previously, when arriving at the emergency department of Gia Dinh People's Hospital, Ms. N. had a fever accompanied by pain in the abdomen and hips.
Here, Ms. N. was diagnosed with bilateral acute pyelonephritis with sepsis and newly discovered diabetes.
Doctors treated Ms. N. with broad-spectrum antibiotics, but the infection progressed rapidly and became uncontrolled, with persistent high fever, lethargy, shock, low blood pressure, and respiratory failure.
Within 48 hours of admission, Ms. N. was intubated, invasively ventilated, and underwent hemofiltration due to multiple organ failure due to infection. At this time, bilateral diffuse lung damage progressed rapidly and acute respiratory distress syndrome with refractory severe hypoxemia appeared after 5 days of hospitalization.
Doctor Tran Thanh Nam - Cardiovascular Resuscitation Department, Gia Dinh People's Hospital, the main doctor treating Ms. N. - shared: "The patient's blood culture results were positive for bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae . This is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause urinary tract infections and is known for its strong resistance to antibiotics."
In severe cases, this bacterial infection can cause multi-organ failure and be life-threatening, requiring aggressive resuscitation measures and multidisciplinary coordination to control.
Immediately, Ms. N. was treated with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) to support her lungs when her acute respiratory distress syndrome progressed severely. In the case of obese patients, ECMO intervention offers a chance of survival when respiratory failure progresses severely, but at the same time, it also carries many risks such as the difficulty of the procedure.
With the coordination of multidisciplinary intensive care, cardiovascular resuscitation, clinical pharmacy, physical therapy, nutrition..., Ms. N. fully recovered very quickly after only 8 days of VV ECMO intervention.
Before being discharged from the hospital, Ms. N. was carefully advised by nutritionists at Gia Dinh People's Hospital on a reasonable daily diet and a long-term outpatient follow-up plan to optimally control her weight, diabetes, and other associated metabolic risk factors.
Obesity is an increasingly common chronic disease.
According to Dr. Giang Minh Nhat - Deputy Head of the Cardiovascular Resuscitation Department of Gia Dinh People's Hospital, obesity is an increasingly common chronic disease not only in developed countries but also in Vietnam, with the frequency of overweight and obese adults in a community survey in Vietnam reaching 20%.
In addition to high body mass index affecting aesthetics, obesity is also the cause or risk factor for many dangerous diseases such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and even cancer.
However, a little-noticed fact is that obesity makes the body susceptible to infections, and when infections do occur, they are often more severe and difficult to control than in normal people.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cuu-thanh-cong-nu-sinh-vien-beo-phi-bi-nguy-kich-vi-nhiem-trung-20250703170808996.htm
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