On July 5, 2025, in Ho Chi Minh City, the Conference “Implementing ERAS in Surgery – Current Advantages and Challenges” was held jointly by Cho Ray Hospital, Vietnamese Society for Parenteral Enteral Nutrition (VietSPEN), and Ho Chi Minh City Society of Gastrointestinal Surgery. This is considered a scientific forum for experts, health care professionals across the country to update their knowledge, exchange experiences, and contribute to improving the quality of patient care, especially during the treatment and early recovery period after surgery.
Speaking at the Conference, Ha Anh Duc, PhD., MD. – Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Ministry of Health said that ERAS is the abbreviation of “Enhanced Recovery After Surgery”, a surgical field that has been applied for a long time in Europe. This is a comprehensive care program, actively supporting patients before, during and after surgery. ERAS provides a comprehensive care process, coordinating multi-specialties (Doctors, Anesthesiologists, Nutritionists, Post-surgery) and focusing on the patient. The connection and coordination between stages helps to minimize complications, especially in surgery as well as shortening the average hospital stay by 2-3 days. Thereby reducing treatment costs for patients and reducing consumables. At the same time, ERAS contributes to optimizing the treatment process, enhancing the use of evidence in management, proving that the treatment process is completed from start to finish. The Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Ministry of Health affirmed that this can be considered a breakthrough in the surgical sector, in line with the integration trend and patient centered. The Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management is also building a new quality standard towards integration and will research to incorporate ERAS into the assessment of the quality of medical examination and treatment services, possibly in the field of surgery in particular or integrated into the process of assessing the quality of medical examination and treatment.
Passionate about the effectiveness of ERAS, at the conference, Lam Viet Trung, PhD. MD. Assoc. Prof. – Deputy Director of Cho Ray Hospital affirmed that the Conference was organized to continue to improve the quality of treatment for patients in the direction of modern medicine. Compared to the first conference (in 2024) – the event focused on introducing and providing basic information about ERAS, updating knowledge and practice. This year, the ERAS Conference was organized to exploit and bring more in-depth aspects to the delegates attending. With such practical meanings, Lam Viet Trung, PhD. MD. Assoc. Prof. expressed his hope that the ERAS program will increasingly come into practice and be applied in a management program across hospitals in Vietnam.
The conference “Implementing ERAS in Surgery – Current Advantages and Challenges” included 02 thematic sessions, presenting 11 scientific reports presented by experienced domestic experts and international speakers (Dr. James Ngu – Head of Colon Surgery, Changi Hospital, Singapore & Ms. Josephine Yun Ting ONG – Colorectal Nurse, Changi General Hospital, Singapore). The reports focused on many aspects related to the application of the Early Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Program, providing useful information. Thereby, experts and delegates attending had the opportunity to discuss and contribute to improving the quality of treatment and recovery for patients in the field of surgery.
The conference was a great success. With its practicality and high professionalism, the conference attracted the participation of more than 400 delegates including doctors, nurses, and medical staff from all over the country. Otsuka Vietnam is honored to be the bronze sponsor of this conference. As the best partner in Clinical Nutrition, Otsuka Vietnam is always committed to accompanying medical experts in community health care.
Source: Cho Ray Hospital
Some pictures of the conference
