In May 2026, the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery successfully held a series of “International Surgery Week” activities, conducting academic exchanges and surgical demonstrations simultaneously in Uzbekistan, Greece, and the First Affiliated Hospital (FAH) of Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU).
At the invitation of the National Medical Center of Uzbekistan, an expert team composed of key members, such as Yan Yang, Director of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery; Song Yan, Deputy Director of the Department of Ultrasound Medicine; Li Xiaogang, Associate Chief Physician of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine ; and Head Nurse Xiao Juan, traveled to Tashkent from May 11 to 15 for an academic visit and surgical exchanges. The Chinese and Uzbek sides conducted in-depth exchanges on key aspects of minimally invasive cardiac surgery, including standardized procedures, anesthesia coordination, ultrasound guidance, and nursing collaboration.
Over five days, with the cooperation of the Uzbek side, the team completed seven minimally invasive cardiac surgeries, covering highly complex procedures such as mitral valve repair, aortic valve replacement, and coronary artery bypass grafting. In December 2025, the Uzbek team had made a special visit to the FAH of XJTU to learn the “XJTU protocol”. After returning home, the team had independently performed 15 similar procedures. This return visit by the Chinese team served as hands-on teaching that advanced the cooperation from “independent practice” to “collaborative refinement”. During a mitral valve repair procedure with complex anatomy, Director Yan Yang took over as the primary surgeon on site, quickly overcame the technical difficulty, and completed the operation together with the Uzbek physicians, enabling the “XJTU protocol” to move from technical export to in-depth local implementation.
The team visiting Uzbekistan fully demonstrated the technical system of the “XJTU protocol”. Li Xiaogang, Associate Chief Physician of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine , developed an individualized fast-track anesthesia plan for each procedure. Song Yan, Associate Chief Physician of the Department of Ultrasound Medicine, provided precise key information on valve morphology, repair outcomes, and changes in cardiac function through real-time intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography. Head Nurse Xiao Juan and Nurse Wu Ke of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine were responsible for instrument management and intraoperative nursing coordination, and shared the FAH’s advanced nursing concepts and practical standards with the Uzbek side.
On May 13, the National Medical Center of Uzbekistan held a cooperation ceremony. The president of the Uzbek center noted that the two sides had established deep mutual trust and expressed hope for deeper cooperation in more areas such as anesthesia, critical care, nursing, and hospital management.
The “International Surgery Week” achieved multi-site linkage and global coverage. During the same period, the team led by Associate Chief Physician Guo Fengwei guided the completion of three minimally invasive cardiac surgeries in Athens, Greece. This week, the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery also held an international training course on minimally invasive cardiac surgery. Eighteen doctors from seven countries, including Japan, South Korea, Türkiye, Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Uzbekistan, came to the FAH for study and exchanges, systematically learning the core techniques and operating standards of the “XJTU protocol”.
