General Surgery

The General Surgery Department of Dongguan People's Hospital is a leader in general surgery in the city. Founded more than 40 years ago, it has the highest level of professional technical expertise in the Dongguan area and is relatively fully developed. In 2016 the department received funding under the Dongguan Municipal Public Hospital Key (Distinctive) Specialty Development Subsidy Programme, intended for the creation of a provincial-level key specialty, and in December 2017 it was rated a Dongguan Key Specialty.

It is the earliest specialised department in Dongguan to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, thyroid and hernia surgical diseases, and also the earliest to introduce laparoscopic minimally invasive treatment for surgical diseases of the biliary tract, appendix, all types of hernia, thyroid, stomach and intestine, and the hepatobiliary and pancreatic system.

In response to the hospital's service development needs and the requirements for building key clinical specialties, general surgery has implemented a three-tier subspecialty structure and is divided into General Surgery Unit 1 (Thyroid Surgery), General Surgery Unit 2 (Gastrointestinal Surgery), General Surgery Unit 3 (Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic, Splenic and Adult Hernia Surgery), Puji Campus General Surgery Unit 1 (Thyroid, Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic and Splenic Surgery) and Puji Campus General Surgery Unit 2 (Gastrointestinal and Adult Hernia Surgery), achieving subspecialised development.

The department has a strong team of professionals and currently has 59 physicians in total, of whom 11 hold full senior professional titles, 12 hold associate senior professional titles and 23 hold intermediate professional titles. Seven have doctoral-level education and 20 have master's-level education, with the proportion holding master's or doctoral education reaching 45.7%.

The department has a total of 235 beds, with more than 6,000 discharges each year and 5,300 operations performed annually. In its capacity to diagnose and treat difficult and critical patients, the department continuously raises its technical level. From January to October 2018, difficult and critical patients accounted for 55.5% of the patients admitted to general surgery at the Wanjiang Campus, and 40.5% at the Puji Campus.

As a leader among regional specialties, the department performs common general surgery procedures in a mature and well-established manner and actively develops technically demanding surgical techniques. The new techniques and new projects it has introduced have repeatedly won municipal and hospital science and technology progress awards, and a number of techniques have filled gaps in the region and even in the province. It has frequently been well received by patients and their families, winning a good reputation for the hospital.

Techniques currently performed routinely by the department include: subtotal gastrectomy; radical resection for gastric cancer; repair of hiatal (oesophageal hiatus) hernia; resection of intestinal diverticulum; radical right hemicolectomy; transverse colectomy; left hemicolectomy; total colectomy; radical resection for rectal cancer; intestinal plication; appendectomy; cholecystectomy; incision of the common bile duct for stone removal; Roux-en-Y bile duct-jejunostomy; hepatectomy; pancreaticoduodenectomy; partial pancreatectomy; splenectomy for massive splenomegaly; devascularization around the cardia (pericardial devascularization); partial thyroidectomy; subtotal thyroidectomy and radical resection for thyroid cancer; and various types of hernia repair.

In minimally invasive technique, the hospital has in recent years attached great importance to the development of minimally invasive surgery and performs all laparoscopic general surgery procedures, such as totally laparoscopic radical resection for gastric cancer and colon cancer, totally laparoscopic left and right hemihepatectomy, totally laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy and totally laparoscopic bariatric surgery, which places its laparoscopic technique in a leading position in general surgery throughout the city.

For equipment, it has successively purchased the most advanced equipment and instruments available, such as laparoscopes, ultrasonic scalpels and electronic choledochoscopes. In recent years it has further upgraded its equipment, purchasing advanced specialised instruments and equipment including an energy platform system, a 3D laparoscopy system, a high-definition laparoscopy system, a fibreoptic choledochoscopy system, an ultrasonic scalpel system and a radiofrequency ablation treatment system. It has also recruited senior specialists in minimally invasive surgery, continuously broadening the range of minimally invasive operations, with the number and proportion of minimally invasive operations increasing year by year.

In research and teaching, in recent years the department has published nearly 100 academic papers in journals in China and abroad, and has obtained 5 research projects at or above municipal level. In 2014 the department was selected as one of the first national standardised residency training bases in surgery, and in 2017 it successfully applied for the Dongguan funding programme for the creation of a provincial key clinical specialty.

Scope of diagnosis and treatment

At present, the operations performed by the department cover every category of disease within general surgery, specifically including the following.

Thyroid surgery

Endoscopic resection of thyroid masses and radical resection for thyroid cancer. Conventional open thyroid surgery is routinely performed, including subtotal thyroidectomy, total thyroidectomy, neck lymph node dissection and surgery for hyperparathyroidism.

Gastrointestinal surgery

Laparoscopic radical surgery for gastrointestinal tumours and comprehensive treatment, including radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer, radical total gastrectomy, radical resection for colorectal cancer and pancreaticoduodenectomy, as well as the formulation of individualised radiotherapy, chemotherapy and interventional treatment plans. In recent years bariatric surgery has gradually been introduced. Laparoscopic appendectomy and repair of gastrointestinal perforation are routinely performed.

Hepatobiliary, pancreatic, splenic and adult hernia surgery

Laparoscopic partial hemihepatectomy, pancreaticoduodenectomy and excision of congenital bile duct cyst, as well as cholecystectomy, incision and exploration of the bile duct, fenestration and drainage of hepatic cysts, radiofrequency ablation for liver cancer and tension-free hernia repair, with more than 1,000 operations a year. Other hepatobiliary operations include conventional resection of liver and biliary tract tumours, surgery for portal hypertension, secondary or repeated complex biliary tract surgery and surgery for congenital biliary tract malformations.

Other general surgery techniques

Excision of body surface tumours and surgical treatment of varicose veins of the lower limbs.