That was proof that there was no more necrotized tissue and that the anastomosis would not be a problem after surgery.
After several rinses of the abdominal cavity, they began to close it.
Chapter 327 - Stockholm Syndrome
Wash and close.
Zheng Ren operated skillfully. Even though every step was in order, each was so fast that it became a blur to observers.
Chief Sun had arrived and watched with wide eyes. He was aware that Zheng Ren was superior to him in surgery. However, Zheng Ren seemed a little rushed today and was going at full speed.
He had already given up trying to compete with these two from the emergency department, but when he saw Su Yun and Chief Zhang working on thoracic surgery together, he could not resist being a spectator.
Chief Zhang was an idiot, a poser. He had no idea what he was going up against this time.
Even though Chief Sun from the second general surgery department was unaware of both Su Yun's past and Zheng Ren's use of a Master level skill book, all that had happened thus far were as obvious a hint as morning bells.
He was perceptive enough to know that there would be quite a show today.
"Where are you at?" Zheng Ren closed the abdomen with his head lowered. The light of the surgical lamps was slightly dimmer than usual as one had been adjusted to illuminate the surgical field on the c.h.e.s.t.
"I've sutured the punctured lungs and bronchial artery, currently checking other regions," Su Yun said, "Boss, come take a look when you're done. Something's not right with the mediastinum."
Zheng Ren acknowledged him.
They successfully closed the abdominal cavity. All procedures were completed under an hour.
"Dr. Zheng has exceptional skill," Director Xiao said, "Old Chief Physician Pan, you have a strong team."
"It's all from Zheng Ren. I didn't teach him much," Old Chief Physician Pan said seriously.
By then, the external surgeries on the abdomen had already been dealt with, but the c.h.e.s.t surgery was still in progress and he was not yet in the mood for casual banter.
Blood began leaking slowly from the stab wounds on the abdominal wall.
Zheng Ren recognized it as a sign of increased blood volume due to heavy blood and fluid infusions.
He let Yang Lei suture the skin and a few other stab wounds before going to Su Yun.
Zheng Ren was unfamiliar with thoracic surgery. When he was an intern, he had only helped with the retractor while his teacher performed the operation proper.
Even though he had achieved the Master level in thoracic surgery, he was still cautious.
The patient had only a single functioning lung; her right lung tissues were like a deflated balloon, collapsed into a ball of mass.
Its middle and lower lobe had two punctures.
They had finished repairing the wounds and the c.h.e.s.t cavity was filled with warm saline.
Chu Yanran turned on single lung ventilation and increased pressure to inflate the lung tissues, allowing them to check for any missed punctures that would lead to gas leakage.
Repair of the lungs was similar to that of the intestines. The skill it required was… basic.
Zheng Ren was very confident that Su Yun could complete it alone without Chief Zhang.
How would he call himself the rising star of cardiothoracic surgery if he could not do this?
"Boss, how long was the attacker's knife?" Su Yun asked.
"Approximately 30 cm," Zheng Ren said, his mind taking him back to the glaring red pool on a snowy ground.
"There's a slight possibility that her mediastinum was injured," Su Yun said immediately.
"Suction, with cover." Zheng Ren reached out a hand and an aspirator was placed in it.
"That should be it." Chief Zhang saw only a little red in the rinsing solution with no air bubbles and assumed the surgery was complete. "The punctured lung was successfully repaired. We can close up."
"We still need to check," Su Yun said.
"Who's the one doing the surgery!" Chief Zhang said in a low voice, "The longer the patient is under anesthesia, the less likely she will recover."
"I'm the one who'll be taking care of her in the ICU after surgery," Su Yun said nonchalantly, "Would you like to take over that, Chief Zhang?"
That was f*cking arrogant.
Chief Zhang was furious.
Nevertheless… he could not start a fight with Su Yun on the operating table, could he?
Winning the argument was one thing. Even if he did, did he really want to go to the ICU for the patient's postoperative care?
He knew that Su Yun excelled in intensive care medicine. Him, not so much.
Chief Zhang lifted his head angrily and looked at Director Xiao.
Director Xiao was also curious. What had given Su Yun the confidence to question the decision of a department chief during a surgery?
Under normal circ.u.mstances, they would close the c.h.e.s.t even without absolute certainty.
"Let them try." Old Chief Physician Pan settled the matter.
Chief Zhang was fuming. He slammed the hemostatic clamps he had been holding onto the sterile sheets, turned around and left.
"You go over," Zheng Ren said.
Su Yun nodded. He raised his hands to c.h.e.s.t level and walked around the operating table to stand where Chief Zhang did.
"Single lung ventilation," Zheng Ren said.
Chu Yanran followed the order immediately and the patient's right lung instantly deflated.
The two of them searched carefully around the pleura. A few minutes later, they found an open wound smaller than 1 cm on it, right beside the mediastinum.
The wound was small, almost like a scratch, a non-issue.
Had they not been careful enough, they would not even have noticed it.
Su Yun g.r.o.a.n.e.d. Zheng Ren saw the diagnosis on the System monitor on the upper right corner of his vision blinking red—esophageal rupture.
This wound was clearly much deeper than it looked. After the lung had been punctured, the knife had pierced through the mediastinal pleura and injured the esophagus.
"Time to open up and check on it." Zheng Ren reached out and received a scalpel.
Whether in general or thoracic surgery, Xie Yiren could gently pass the tools Zheng Ren needed into his hand.
This,
Maybe,
Was life.
No drinking or flirting, no obsession over money, no sweet-talking, no overflowing passions.
She knew what he needed right away when he opened his palm.
A life like this would be great.
There was no joy in Zheng Ren's heart. He was paying full attention to the patient.
The blade glided along the wound on the mediastinal pleura and opened it up.
Chief Sun's eyes lit up. He had a hunch that they were about to reach the highlight of the day.
Zheng Ren was truly remarkable. The man was dabbling even in thoracic surgery and was still so confident in such a situation.
Did monsters really exist?
He had never believed in such things. Anything could be improved through practice, and even an average person could perform surgery after practicing a hundred times.
However, since meeting Zheng Ren, he had begun to believe.
Both the first and second division of the general surgery department would never live down how emergency general surgeries had been "taken over" in this hospital.
Chief Sun was used to being careful throughout his entire career. Before this, he had been suffering under the oppression of Chief Liu, but only to a tolerable extent.
It looked like it was the thoracic surgery department's turn today.
Under the face mask, Chief Sun's mouth curled into a smirk. He was thrilled to see how the snobbish Chief Zhang would embarrass himself.
As long as there was company, even the most embarrassing thing was bearable.
He was not only the one who had failed to compete with t
he whelp, not out of incompetence, but because the whelp was a true monster.
The thoughts did not leave his lips.
He was more confident in Zheng Ren than in Old Chief Physician Pan.
Perhaps this was a different embodiment of Stockholm Syndrome.
Zheng Ren was unaware of Chief Sun's thoughts, having already entered the System to practice thoracic surgery in bulk.
Chapter 328 - A Successful Surgery
Since Zheng Ren was still in the middle of a surgery, he dared not waste any more time. He entered the System and bought a few surgery training hours.
The System's operating room emerged from the ground, bearing a simulation mannequin with a condition thoughtfully similar to Yang Lili's.
In that moment, Zheng Ren appreciated the System more than ever.
It showed him a clear purpose and he could get the training he wanted.
That was enough.
Zheng Ren did not get much surgery time as he only needed to do reparative surgery of the esophagus and mediastinal pleura. Five hours would be more than sufficient.
Esophageal repair differed from an esophagectomy. It was not a major surgery, unlike the removal of the upper esophagus.
The only skill required was suturing. No special techniques needed.
Zheng Ren was simply being careful by practicing for a few hours in the System's operating room. He was eternally afraid of slipping up and making a mistake, compromising the patient's recovery and even causing death.
If that happened, he would regret it forever.
Within five hours, Zheng Ren performed over 30 surgeries, all simple procedures to repair the mediastinal pleura and esophagus.
When his time was up, he exited the System.
He was still holding the scalpel in his hand. Su Yun asked, puzzled, "Boss, what are you thinking?"
"I think we may need to leave the gastric tube in for a few more days," Zheng Ren said, making up an excuse.
He made a longer-than-usual incision along the wound on the patient's mediastinal pleura, performed blunt dissection and found the esophageal wall.
As predicted, it had a lesion smaller than 0.5 cm.
Su Yun probed and pushed the hemostatic clamp through the esophageal wall. Had they not discovered it, the patient's digestive fluid would not have allowed the wound to heal, possibly leading to tracheo-oesophageal or bronchopleural fistulas.
Nevertheless, they had found it, and there was nothing further to worry about.
Old Chief Physician Pan's expression relaxed instantly and his c.h.e.s.t rose even further.
Even without looking directly at Chief Zhang Linyou of thoracic surgery, his intentions were clear—you are inferior in diagnosis and surgery to even my subordinate!
Chief Sun was thrilled.
His confidence had not been misplaced, after all. Once discovered, an injury on the esophageal wall was but a small problem and could be resolved by leaving the gastric tube in for a few extra days.
Even without a suture, it would not pose any threat.
However, missing it would be a huge blunder.
Chief Zhang Linyou, today was finally your turn.
Chief Sun happily anticipated Chief Zhang Linyou's astonished expression, but looking around, the man was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Chief Zhang?" he chuckled.
"He just left," Chu Yanzhi replied instantly. She was having a hard time not speaking, but there were so many people around today and she could not be her usual lively self.
Although protocol called for as few people as possible in the operating room, this patient had been directly designated by the city council. Even the hospital director was present; any department chief who sat this one out would likely face a rocky road ahead.
The effect of their commotion on patients… was the least of their concerns.
Those present were used to and fully aware of such situations.
There had once been an old minister who had returned on a visit to his hometown, a rural village near Sea City. His journey had been challenging due to his tight schedule and he caught a cold.
There was no specific medication in the small hospital in his hometown. They had never even heard of specialized drugs for influenza such as Tamiflu and Peramivir.
He was prescribed three days of dexamethasone, but his symptoms improved significantly and he was so pleased that he heaped endless praise on the medical ability of rural hospitals.
When the old minister arrived at Sea City, everyone in Sea City General Hospital panicked.
How would they handle the case?
Treatment was normally followed by two to three days of recovery which would occasionally still present mild flu symptoms.
What would their betters think?
That Sea City General Hospital was inferior to rural health centers?
Was that not a ridiculous supposition?
Hence, Sea City General Hospital prescribed two days of dexamethasone to relieve his symptoms in addition to regular treatment.
After that… did all ministers not return to Imperial Capital? The doctors there were all experts and had plenty of tricks up their sleeve. [1]
It was strange, just like stories from unofficial history records describing how an emperor could not drink fresh tea, only old tea, as no one dared to speak otherwise…
As they said, a grasp of mundane affairs was genuine knowledge, and the understanding of worldly wisdom was true learning.
Today's situation was exactly the same: a bunch of people cramming themselves into the operating room as if afraid of being called out for their absence when an important patient was being rescued.
If they were accused of disrespect by someone with malicious intent… they would be f*cked.
Who would notice if somebody left in such a crowd? Only Chu Yanzhi, the girl with inexhaustible energy could notice that Chief Zhang Linyou had left after the lesion on the esophagus was discovered.
Su Yun smiled gently upon seeing the lesion. He reached out his hand but received nothing.
Zheng Ren was already ahead with a needle holder attached to a thin needle and thread.
Stunned, Su Yun clocked that Zheng Ren seemed rather familiar with the procedure. This could not be the man's first thoracic surgery.
He fell into a daze. What could this guy not do?
Zheng Ren's detailed sutures on the esophagus were also flawless. Were it Su Yun… he would still be better than Zheng Ren, but this was a fine job.
After stitching up the esophagus and mediastinal pleura, they washed the area and closed up the c.h.e.s.t after observing no further blood in the flush.
"Boss, you seem rather familiar with thoracic surgery," Su Yun said.
"I'm just scratching the surface," Zheng Ren said.
Su Yun recalled how Old Chief Wang's jaw had almost dropped to the floor back in Imperial Capital.
The same tactic would not work on Su Yun a second time. Out of habit, he blew at his fringe, but the gust of warm breath was stayed by his sterile mask.
He shook his head.
C.h.e.s.t closure was slightly more complicated than that of the abdomen.
However, they had worked together for some time and complemented each other exceptionally, what more with Xie Yiren assisting. Suture, knot, cut; four hands flew about and between five to six minutes later, they had managed to close the c.h.e.s.t.
On the other hand, Yang Lei was still in his own world of skin suture.
"This surgery is a success," Old Chief Physician Pan said after a look at the ECG monitor.
"Mm," Director Xiao said with his hands behind his back, "Pay strict attention to perioperative care. If there are any problems, just contact the medical administration and office. We have to ensure this emergency rescue is successful no matter what."
After his command, Director Xiao turned to leave the operating room.
Before he could complete his rotation, though, a panicked Ding Zhongtai rushed in and whispered, "
Director, the ambulance rear-ended a Porsche on their journey. The driver is arguing with the police now."
"Hmm?" Director Xiao had not seen the scratches on the front of the ambulance and had no idea of the matter. He stared at Ding Zhongtai, confused.
Old Chief Physician Pan scoffed coldly and said, "The ambulance dashboard camera has all the footage. How dare he make a scene?"
Chapter 329 - Lil Fugui
"Little Zheng, what happened?" Ding Zhongtai asked.
"The car was blocking the way, so I knocked him aside," Zheng Ren answered nonchalantly.
Su Yun was taking off his surgical gown, but upon hearing his words, turned around and gave him a thumbs-up without a word as there were still a lot of people in the operating room.
"You can't just crash into him like that!" Ding Zhongtai exclaimed in horror, "Little Zheng, you're too… impulsive."
"Check the record on the dashcam." Zheng Ren was unbothered. He was on the side of reason this time, and with Old Chief Physician Pan backing him, he was not afraid of whatever came next.
"Also, did they take blood samples to test for drunk driving?" Zheng Ren added.
"Drunk driving?" Ding Zhongtai was confused.
"Yes, I suspect that he drank at noon and he's still not sober yet. His blood alcohol level should be enough to charge him with drunk driving."
At that, Old Chief Physician Pan took out his phone and made a phone call.
Zheng Ren and Su Yun transferred the patient from the operating table to a stretcher trolley bound for the ICU, with Chu Yanran pumping the breathing bag as usual.
As they left the operating room, Old Chief Physician Pan stopped Zheng Ren.
Su Yun was there to follow up on subsequent procedures. Zheng Ren's presence was unnecessary.
There was sufficient manpower at the scene, but even if there were not, the various department chiefs were not just there for display. It would not hurt for them to do some work.
Old Chief Physician Pan pulled him aside and quietly asked, "Zheng Ren, what happened?"
Despite looking a bit haggard—his hair was drenched in sweat—his expression was calm, and his tone even more so. He told the old chief what had transpired.
"Outrageous!" Old Chief Physician Pan bellowed.
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