Alchemist at work

Lawrence Liu Hin-lun
Associate Consultant (Surgery)
Tung Wah Hospital

Everyone wants to have beautiful appearance, the lack of which likely stripes one’s self-confidence. Dr Lawrence Liu, Associate Consultant in plastic surgery, helps patients rebuild their appearance and regain self-confidence with a pair of skilful hands.

Dr Liu liked to disassemble and rebuild objects when he was a little boy, similar to what he does at work today, namely lymphedema surgery, breast reconstruction, head and neck reconstruction, and hepatic artery anastomosis in living donor liver transplant. When he explains every detail of microsurgery, it shows that he is a thoughtful, meticulous and serious doctor. He says, “I harvest tissues from the normal part of patient’s body and transplant it to the injured area. Then re-connect the blood vessels that are as tiny as a few millimetres, and finally suture the wound. The surgery requires intense mindfulness and patience, such surgery often takes half a day.”

In 2015, he started a new multidisciplinary day service for lymphedema patients together with physiotherapists, breast surgeons and specialist nurses. The service includes consultation, lymphedema surgery, limb care and physiotherapy. It is the first of its kind introduced in public hospital in Hong Kong.

He describes himself as a giraffe. “I want to stand high so that I can have an overview of the macro environment. It keeps me abreast of the latest development in medicine. I also believe, with Hospital Authority being the largest training centre for doctors, we need to challenge our limits to enhance the standard of surgery and deliver quality services to patients.”