Recently, a 53-year-old woman and former patient at the center hospital of Sambava city, Madagascar, made a special visit to express her gratitude to Qiang Yaosheng and all the Chinese doctors involved in her treatment. She continuously praised them, clapping her hands and saying, "Bravo, bravo!"

Qiang, associate chief physician of general surgery department at the First Hospital Lanzhou University, successfully removed a huge tumor on her thyroid at the center hospital of Sambava, where he serves as a member of China's 23 rounds of medical aid team.

Qiang Yaosheng, associate chief physician of the general surgery department at the First Hospital Lanzhou University, performs an operation during his medical aid to Madagascar. [Photo provided to Lanzhou.gogansu.com]

At the end of June, the patient, who had the tumor in her neck for over 15 years, traveled for a whole day with her family to seek treatment at the hospital.

Qiang was shocked upon seeing the patient. In his 30 years of medical practice, he had never seen such a huge thyroid tumor. After detailed questioning, he learned that the tumor's continuous growth had led to hoarseness and difficulty tilting her head back.

It was found during the examination that the thyroid tumor had an eccentric growth, predominantly on the right side, with the upper pole of the tumor reaching the right mandibular angle. The patient also had symptoms of shortness of breath.

Qiang called for Doctor Li Guangcheng, an ENT specialist from the Chinese medical aid team in Madagascar, for consultation. It was confirmed that the tumor had affected the recurrent laryngeal nerve and caused paralysis of the patient's right vocal cord.

The female patient (center) visits doctor Qiang (4th, L) to express her gratitude. [Photo provided to Lanzhou.gogansu.com]

There was a danger that the required surgical position was hard to achieve, for the patient was required to undergo long-term non-physiological bending of the neck. Furthermore, it is difficult to intubate the patient under general anesthesia due to the large size of the tumor.

On Aug 23, once the patient's examination results met the surgical requirements, Qiang decided to proceed with the tumor removal surgery, after having a discussion with the anesthesiologist from the Chinese medical aid team.

Finally, the patient's right thyroid and tumor were successfully removed under cervical plexus anesthesia. The surgery went smoothly without complications, which could have included tracheal collapse or asphyxiation.