System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

When Liang Huayao and the circulating nurse had hung up the delivered plasma red cells, Lu Cheng and Du Qiang spoke again.

”That’s about it. The patient’s major bleeding points should be the left renal artery and left renal vein.”

”Now, the intra-abdominal hematoma is under control.”

”Director Du, the rest can be handed over to the urology department for consultation,” Lu Cheng said.

”The patient’s substantial organs are not damaged. Intestinal damage is something your general surgery is best at handling, so I can’t help much here.”

Du Qiang nodded, ”Don’t leave just yet.”

Lu Cheng stepped aside to make room for Fang Baorui and Dou Siyuan from general surgery.

”Buzz buzz buzz...” The electric blood pressure monitor immediately started working.

The measurement result came out twenty seconds later: ”79/65mmHg!”

The blood-red light flickered, but in Liang Huayao’s eyes, this was not good news.

He had last measured the blood pressure two minutes ago, and the systolic was 79 at that time.

When the patient entered the operating room, the systolic pressure was 100; it dropped by 21 in less than thirty minutes.

At this rate, he estimated the current systolic could only be 75.

The fact that it hadn’t dropped likely meant hemostasis was effective; the drop in blood pressure was less than 1mmHg, so it was out of the blood pressure monitor’s range.

Since it’s limb pressure, not central venous pressure, it’s not that sensitive.

Lu Cheng didn’t wait by the operating table but walked again to the film reader to examine the preoperative CT results of the patient more carefully.

Just before Lu Cheng went to the film reader, he had upgraded his CT Film Reading Skill from proficient to (Specialized Level 10/20) (Skill Points -20)!

With the improved CT reading skill, Lu Cheng returned to carefully read the CT flat scans and discovered more.

From the preoperative CT, not only could one see the rupture on the renal artery, but also the ischemic damage to the intestines.

Lu Cheng could vaguely see the outline of the aortic arch, iliac artery, and iliac vein.

If he wasn’t wearing sterile surgical gowns and gloves, Lu Cheng would have even wanted to rub his eyes with his hands.

Can such an ordinary CT scan really reveal so much?

Why didn’t he notice it before?

Of course, Lu Cheng didn’t dwell on it; being inexperienced is original sin.

Though the ”Proficient (10/10) CT Film Reading Skill” was quite useful, it certainly couldn’t compare to a specialized-level skill.

The more closely he looked, the more issues Lu Cheng could identify on the CT scan, like multiple bleeding points in the intestines, intestinal perforations, and edema signals…

These things seemed to form a three-dimensional structure, displayed in Lu Cheng’s view, presenting themselves in various directions.

Lu Cheng spent roughly another two minutes looking when Director Du Qiang finally found the position of the hemostatic clamp.

Then he sniffed, ”Turns out the renal artery and vein are to blame! This is located in the retroperitoneum.”

”Generally, it can’t be easily stopped,” Du Qiang said to Fang Baorui and Dou Siyuan.

Fang Baorui wanted to say, if it couldn’t easily be stopped, then how did Lu Cheng manage it?

Initially, there was no clear view.

Of course, in such a situation, Fang Baorui understood that Du Qiang’s purpose in saying this wasn’t to ask for answers but to inform them of this fact.

The reason why he, Du Qiang, couldn’t successfully stop the bleeding.

Dou Siyuan, with a solemn expression, gave Lu Cheng a slightly serious glance, then continued to keep his head down and work as a dutiful assistant.

Lu Cheng returned to the operating table.

Continuing to observe the surgical field, there was still a small amount of oozing, but this bleeding was within the normal range for surgery.

No special treatment was required.

This patient, even if the left kidney were removed, should ultimately survive.

But there are so many arteries in the patient’s abdomen that if Du Qiang were to precisely locate the renal artery in the retroperitoneal layer, the patient would likely have already been taken by Black and White Impermanence to report to King Yama.

”Director Du, nothing special anymore. I can’t help much further; I’ve just arrived home, and my parents are waiting for dinner with me,” Lu Cheng explained subtly.

Du Qiang had called him to help, not to steal the limelight.

Du Qiang knew this well, as did Lu Cheng, so there was no need for him to stick around and become an eyesore.

”Dr. Lu, then you should go have dinner. There shouldn’t be any more issues,” Du Qiang said calmly.

It seemed he was agreeing to let Lu Cheng eat, as if reporting to him.

...

About ten seconds after Lu Cheng left the operating room, the urology department arrived.

After seeing the surgical field clearly, Zhou Bingxuan, the associate chief physician from urology, walked in, stood by the table, and looked at the field cleared by Du Qiang, dazed for a moment.

He was shocked for a full twenty seconds before his expression turned solemn, and he asked with a shocked tone, ”Director Du, how was this achieved?”

The renal artery is indeed one of the body’s major arteries; renal artery rupture could directly kill a patient.

Hemostasis Technique for the renal artery is also a standard surgical technique, but generally, salvageable renal artery injuries are small cuts.

The patient can tolerate a CTA pre-surgery, so under a CTA, the bleeding point can be clearly seen on the renal artery.

This patient didn’t have a CTA, and the bleeding point wasn’t a simple renal artery rupture, but an aneurysm had burst.

The renal artery aneurysm burst, yet Du Qiang managed to handle it, which truly goes above and beyond.