Rehabilitation Department
Overview
Besides prevention and treatment, Rehabilitation (PHCN) is also one of the specialties that University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City Hospital (BV ĐHYD) focuses on developing to bring optimal treatment effectiveness for patients. This is a key method to restore and enhance the function of damaged organs, enabling patients to return to daily life early, while also supporting disease prevention and reducing recurrence rates after treatment.
With the motto “Comprehensive Rehabilitation – Elevating Life”, the Rehabilitation Department of University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City Hospital proudly is a trusted address providing sustainable health care solutions for patients and the community. Each year, the Rehabilitation Department receives hundreds of thousands of patient examinations and treatments. Here, patients are given an optimal care pathway to recover quickly, effectively, and return to work and social life soon. Additionally, the department actively engages in advocacy and education for disability prevention, helping patients recover quickly and confidently return to work and social life.
The Rehabilitation Department provides therapy for surgical patients starting from the pre-operative stage, closely coordinating with other specialties throughout the treatment and care process.
Strength
Under the leadership of Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, the team of doctors and technicians of the Rehabilitation Department consistently practices clinically following the core motto “Safety – Effectiveness – Dedication – Professionalism”. Not stopping at multidisciplinary collaboration, the Department also delves into specific fields through a model of specialized professional groups. Here, the close cooperation between doctors and technicians creates a multimodal treatment process, based on evidence-based medicine and optimally personalized for each patient’s condition.
Currently, the Department has established and developed specialized rehabilitation groups including: outpatient rehabilitation, Respiratory, Cardiovascular, Orthopedic Trauma, Neurology, Geriatrics and Surgery, along with specialized groups for Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy. Here, patients are provided with comprehensive solutions in Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy for each specific pathology:
- Post-operative joint replacement rehabilitation: This is one of the Department’s top strengths, offering an optimal care pathway for patients after hip (hip osteoarthritis, femoral head necrosis) and knee joint replacement surgery. Patients are instructed to begin exercises from the first day after surgery to ensure functional recovery and prevent complications.
- Upper limb pathology rehabilitation: conservative and post-operative recovery treatment for upper extremity conditions such as rotator cuff tears, adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder, labral tears, and after elbow, wrist, and hand joint surgeries; as well as conservative and post-operative recovery for lower extremity conditions such as ligament injuries, meniscal tears of the knee; ankle and foot disorders, and combined bone surgery recovery.
- Spinal pathology rehabilitation: conservative and post-operative recovery treatment for conditions such as spinal degeneration, disc herniation, spinal canal stenosis, spinal trauma, and other spinal surgical interventions.
- Post-neurosurgical rehabilitation: early rehabilitation support for patients after brain and cerebrovascular surgeries (aneurysm rupture, vascular malformations), brain tumor surgery, spinal tumor surgery, as well as cases of traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, etc.
- Neurological disease rehabilitation: early intervention during hospitalization and after discharge for patients with stroke, Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, peripheral polyneuropathy, muscular disorders such as myasthenia, polymyositis, etc. Implement Occupational Therapy for patients with cognitive decline, Speech Therapy for patients with dysphagia, voice disorders, language disorders, etc.
- Cardiovascular disease rehabilitation: early intervention during hospitalization and after discharge for patients with myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, post-vascular interventions, and post-cardiac surgery (heart valve replacement, coronary artery bypass grafting, aortic aneurysm repair, Tetralogy of Fallot, ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, aortic coarctation, atrioventricular canal, Glenn shunt surgery, Fontan surgery, right ventricle two-outlet, venous return anomalies, aortic arch transposition, single ventricle ...).
- Respiratory disease rehabilitation: early intervention during hospitalization and after discharge for patients such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, asthma, bronchiectasis, and post-thoracic surgery (muscle weakness, pectus excavatum, lung tumor, pleural effusion, pneumothorax, mediastinal tumor, thymic tumor, chest trauma, etc.).
- Surgical rehabilitation: therapeutic intervention for patients after esophageal, stomach, duodenal, colon, rectal, hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeries, etc.
- Rehabilitation for various geriatric conditions, palliative care, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and other diseases.
When patients come to the Rehabilitation Department, each is thoroughly assessed by the medical team, then coordinated with technicians to establish an individualized treatment program tailored to each person and each stage of disease progression. Particularly, for cases with complex disabilities, patients are advised on appropriate assistive devices or specialized orthotic braces to optimize mobility and provide comfort during recovery.
Training & Research
In addition to treatment work, to exchange expertise with specialists in the field of rehabilitation and related areas, the Rehabilitation Department regularly organizes training for undergraduate and postgraduate students both domestically and abroad, as well as technology transfer to other units.
The expert team at the Department continuously refines and enhances their expertise through weekly scientific meetings and ongoing continuing medical education (CME) courses both domestically and abroad. Notably, as a unit within the teaching hospital system of the University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City, the Department serves as a clinical environment for training and mentoring successive generations of resident physicians, specialists, as well as Bachelor of Rehabilitation students. The close integration of theoretical teaching and clinical practice enables trainees to access advanced therapeutic techniques, contributing to a high‑quality professional workforce for the rehabilitation field in Vietnam.
Building on a solid foundation of continuous efforts in treatment and education, the Rehabilitation Department also intensifies its scientific research activities. Each year, the Department’s staff publish research articles in domestic medical journals, contributing to the updating and advancement of the rehabilitation field. Parallel to academic work, the Department places special emphasis on disseminating medical knowledge through public media channels. In‑depth yet accessible articles have helped the public raise disease‑prevention awareness, correctly understand the value of rehabilitation, and become more proactive in sustainable health care.
Equipments
The Rehabilitation Department's outpatient Physical Therapy treatment room is equipped with modern machinery, equipment, and exercise tools. The inpatient Occupational and Speech Therapy treatment rooms are designed spaciously and comfortably.
Some notable machinery and equipment at the Department:
Electrical pulse stimulation device
Low-frequency electrical therapy device for pain reduction.
Therapeutic ultrasound machine.
Cervical and lumbar spine traction system.
Electronic resistance bicycle.