By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Dr. Noh Sung-hoon of Yonsei Severance Hospital is a world renown gastric cancer surgeon using an electric cauterizing device. He does not use a scalpel throughout the whole operation but uses the device in cutting the stomach to removing the cancer and other necessary organs.
Using heat, the bleeding is reduced to a minimum, bringing down the possibility of infection and pain as well as the need for blood transfusions.
Noh is also one of the very first persons to not put a tube through the patients' nose to prevent any gas or others splitting the wounds or sewed parts. He also got rid of drains that doctors used to stick into the flank area to remove secretions. Those two were textbook-ordered procedures but Noh made a big move, which inspired hundreds of doctors to follow now.
``It was all for the patients; they liked neither of the methods and when we did away with them, we found out that the infection, inflammation as well as physical and mental pain were reduced dramatically,'' he said.
Unlike other fields of medicine in the country, Noh said basic research on gastric cancer is the world's top-class alongside its clinical outcomes.
He explained that gastric cancer being the No.1 diagnosed cancer in Korea contributed a lot to the development. ``We have abundant cases in performance and studies. We are also desperate to make some improvement, too,'' he said. His team has collaborated with MD Anderson Cancer Center in research and some Japanese and Chinese medical doctors visit him often for training and observation.
Noh is working on providing tailor-made treatment for individuals ― making precise diagnosis, figuring out the exact amount of surgery needed and making no extra incisions for ``prevention.'' He is also focusing on clarifying the exact biological characteristics of all anticancer drugs so that all drugs prescribed have few side effects but maximum potency.
``I hope the patients feel comfortable when they visit the doctor. I hope they feel at home when staying in hospital. I hope they feel comfortable,'' he said.