Biological therapy in Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH)

• General and Abdominal Surgery Department
• Medical Oncology and Hematology Department
• Orthopedic Surgery Department
• Cardiovascular Center

Bundang Hospital is the 1st medical center of Seoul National University, established in 1885.

Bundang Hospital has been working since 2003. It consists of 10 specialized treatment centers and 33 departments.

Seoul National University Bundang Hospital is located in a quiet outskirt region of Seoul. The distance between the hospital and Incheon International Airport is 70 km.

• Innovativeness. The hospital uses electronic BESTcare system of data storage. It contains a complete info about a patient, that is available only to your doctor. Due to BESTcare system, there are no errors with medicines and tests, and a patient can contact a doctor at any time from the ward using a pad.
• Equipment. Bundang Hospital is equipped the same level as medical centers of Europe and the USA — Bundang specialists also use Da Vinci robotic system.
• Coordination of international patients. The International Department works on the hospital’s premises. The staff arranges a transfer, language assistance, and supports a patient during treatment.

Doctors perform surgical treatment of stomach, intestines, liver, kidneys, biliary tracts diseases. The specialty of the department is the removal of malignant and benign tumors.

Bundang surgeons specialize in laparoscopic and endoscopic operations — interventions through small incisions or natural openings (anus, mouth). They are low-injury rate procedures that minimize postoperative complications, do not leave noticeable scars. Such an approach shortens the patient's recovery period.

Achievements of the Department

• The world's 1st laparoscopic resection (removal) of the liver right back in a child.
• The 1st operation in the world of expanding (involving the neighboring tissues) removal of the gallbladder.
• The 1st pancreas and part of the duodenum resection to treat pancreatic cancer in South Korea.
• 5,000 surgeries for stomach cancer treatment. 90% of the interventions are performed laparoscopically, without big abdominal incisions.
• 1,000 procedures to remove the gallbladder are carried out laparoscopically — through a puncture up to 1 cm.
• 4,500 surgical interventions to treat intestinal cancer. According to the hospital's statistics, 76% such operations are successful.
• 650 successful operations to remove the stomach.

Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

Patients with malignant tumors, the blood and lymphatic system diseases are treated here. Doctors of the Medical Oncology Department conduct chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and BMT (bone marrow transplant).

Radiation Oncology

The radiation oncology unit is equipped with the linear accelerators of the latest generation. They allow performing 3D conformal radiation therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). All these techniques are aimed at irradiating a tumor as accurately as possible without damaging healthy tissues around the neoplasm. This allows minimizing such side effects as nausea, fatigue, hair loss, itching, and skin rashes.

GammaKnife Center

GammaKnife is a type of radiosurgery that affects malignant cells with high-intensity cobalt irradiation. Doctors use the GammaKnife to treat head and neck tumors due to its minimal affection for healthy brain cells.

Bundang Hospital doctors have performed over 1,000 procedures using the Gamma Knife.

The team of the department includes 14 professors, 12 doctors, and 53 members of the nursing staff. They specialize in the treatment of the spine, bones, joints, and muscles diseases.

60,000 outpatients and 35,000 inpatients are treated in the department annually.

Bundang orthopedists perform 3,000 operations every year. This number captures such interventions:

• surgical treatment of cerebral palsy
• hip replacement
• knee replacement
• arthroscopic restoration of joints and ligaments (through several punctures up to 1-3 cm).

The Cardiovascular Center of Bundang Hospital was established in 2003. Since then, it has become one of the largest centers to treat heart diseases and blood vessels in South Korea. The center serves 103,000 patients annually.

Heart surgeons perform 2,400 open cardiac operations each year. 26,000 patients undergo coronary angiography — an accurate heart examination performed through a thin tube (catheter).

In 2013, the Cardiovascular Center received regional status from the Korean Ministry of Health. This confirms the high success rate of operations in the hospital, the use of the latest treatment methods, and the doctors’ qualifications.

Cardiologists and cardiac surgeons specialize in the treatment of hypertension, heart disease in elderly people, arrhythmias, heart failure. Doctors perform the following operations:

• implantation of an artificial pacemaker or defibrillator
• radiofrequency ablation
• surgical treatment of congenital heart defects
• coronary artery bypass surgery
• heart valves replacement and correction
• heart transplantat.

A team of the Cardiovascular Department, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

Accommodation

A patient stays in a single, double or VIP room. There are a TV, Internet, bathroom in each ward.

Transfer 

Employees of the International Department provide free transfer from Incheon Airport to the Bundang Hospital or hotel.

Language assistance 

The hospital provides a medical interpreter from Korean.