CHAPTER 206: 206 MILESTONE SURGERY

"How is your hand? Can you still hold on?" Shi Lei asked Liu Banxia.

"I’m fine, I can still hold on," Liu Banxia replied.

Listening to their conversation, the onlookers finally remembered that Liu Banxia’s role as an assistant was not an easy job at all.

His current role was to ensure that the branch’s curvature didn’t change significantly. If it changed too much, given the uncertain extent of the patient’s injuries, he could start bleeding profusely again. The operation had already been going on for a long time. If the patient started bleeding again, the situation would become grave.

And was it really that easy to maintain the branch’s curvature? As Wei Yuan performed the dissection, the forces involved would inevitably change. Liu Banxia had to rely on the sensations in his fingers to control the branch’s curve. This required a high degree of skill; it wasn’t as simple as, say, leaning against a wall with one hand. Even then, your hand would eventually feel strained and uncomfortable.

At this moment, Zhou Shuwen shook his head, walked to the side, removed his gloves, and started drinking directly from a bag of glucose. While drinking, he massaged his own lower back.

"Shuwen, can you still hold on?" Li Mingwu, who had approached at some point, asked as he pressed the intercom button.

Zhou Shuwen turned his head to look and nodded. "I’m fine. With the three of them here, I won’t get too tired for a while."

"Don’t force yourself. If you really can’t handle it, I’ll come down and take over for you," Li Mingwu said with a smile.

"Not even if you’re the Deputy Director. I have to watch these three," Zhou Shuwen also chuckled.

"Alright, it’s dissected out! Haha! There’s only a little damage. We just need to clean it up and suture it," Wei Yuan exclaimed at this point.

Normally, with Zhou Shuwen and Li Mingwu talking, Wei Yuan’s sudden exclamation would have been quite rude. However, no one cared at this moment, and he himself hadn’t even noticed they were conversing. Wei Yuan knew that the part he was handling now was the most crucial. Zhou Shuwen had entrusted this task to him, and he was determined to complete it with quality and precision. This was the result of his intense concentration; he really hadn’t noticed what else had been happening in the operating room.

With the blood vessels exposed, the subsequent steps were much simpler. It wasn’t a particularly difficult task for Wei Yuan; even Liu Banxia could have handled it. His many years in medicine hadn’t been spent idly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sought to hone his skills further by training in the emergency department.

"The next step is to cut the smaller twigs off this main branch and then pull the main branch out." After Wei Yuan finished his part, Zhou Shuwen put on his gloves again and stood by the operating table. "If there’s no further damage, our work ahead will be straightforward. But if there is, we’ll have to give it everything we’ve got. Banxia, has your hand recovered yet?"

"Director, give me another two or three minutes. It’s almost recovered," Liu Banxia said, carefully flexing his left hand.

"Alright," Zhou Shuwen responded crisply.

During surgery, many moments were a gamble. Withdrawing the branch would surely cause new bleeding; the question was whether it would involve small vessels that could be quickly ligated or large vessels requiring repair. Liu Banxia’s manual hemostasis earlier had been impressive, but no one knew what might happen next. His hand needed to be at its peak sensitivity.

After three minutes, Liu Banxia nodded at Zhou Shuwen.

The spectators outside also held their breath, equally tense. The upcoming removal of the branch would determine if all their preceding efforts had been in vain. The patient’s vital signs weren’t consistently stable; anesthesiologist Wang Lei had to periodically administer medication to support the patient’s vital signs. However, the effects of these drugs were limited and could only play an auxiliary role. The critical factor remained the patient’s underlying physical condition.

As the twigs on the main branch were cut one by one, Shi Lei grasped the main branch and pulled it straight out.

Zhou Shuwen and the others stared intently at the patient’s abdominal cavity. When they saw no major gush of blood, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"I’ll take a break. You three handle the closing," Zhou Shuwen said after ligating two small bleeding vessels.

"Shuwen, well done! I’ll treat you to a drink when you get a break," Li Mingwu said.

"That’s too insincere. I don’t even know when I’ll get to rest. Let’s use Liu Banxia’s method: add a chicken leg for everyone in the operating room," Zhou Shuwen said with a laugh.

Liu Banxia, who was delightedly performing the final sutures, nearly botched a stitch when he heard this. Did I hear that right? How could such a high-status figure make such a joke?

The people outside in the viewing gallery also chuckled when they heard the exchange. Only now could they finally relax a bit; they had been on edge along with the patient.

"Shi Lei, you take a break too. Let those two do the suturing," Zhou Shuwen added.

"Alright, I’ll go update the patient’s family first," Shi Lei said.

This was also to give Wei Yuan and Liu Banxia more practical experience. After all, the primary goal of all previous maneuvers had been hemostasis. So, once the bleeding was controlled and the area exposed, further definitive procedures hadn’t been performed yet. Now, all the closing work fell to Wei Yuan and Liu Banxia. The suturing alone would take a considerable amount of time.

Moreover, Wei Yuan was particularly meticulous with the end-to-end anastomosis of the colon he had performed, wary of a potential intestinal fistula. Because the patient’s intestinal injury was due to emergency trauma, no bowel preparation had been done. Consequently, there was a significant amount of feces in the colon, and naturally, a higher bacterial load. As they performed these closing tasks, they meticulously checked, irrigated, and observed, not missing the slightest detail.

By the time they had placed the drainage tube and closed the abdomen, the entire surgery had lasted 3 hours and 27 minutes.

DING! Emergency treatment completed.

Gained 100 experience points, Kidney Removal Skill proficiency +200 points, Spleen Removal Skill proficiency +200 points, Suture Technique Skill proficiency +200 points, Dressing Change Skill proficiency +100 points, Diagnostics Skill proficiency +200 points.

Mission Rating: Flawless. Gained 100 experience points, Kidney Removal Skill proficiency +300 points, Spleen Removal Skill proficiency +300 points, Suture Technique Skill proficiency +200 points, Dressing Change Skill proficiency +100 points, Diagnostics Skill proficiency +500 points, Glory Points +3.

Liu Banxia was left grinning foolishly. The joy of saving a patient was truly sweet, a feeling he found himself deeply addicted to.

This surgery was performed by four surgeons, not to mention the experienced Zhou Shuwen. Otherwise, the surgery might have lasted longer, and the patient could have been in greater danger. But those were just possibilities. The reality was that, purely from a technical standpoint, the surgery had been perfect. Whether the patient would develop complications and recover would depend on observation in the ICU, which also couldn’t be taken lightly. The trauma the patient had suffered was so severe that even a seemingly minor complication could be fatal.

"Feels pretty good, right?" Zhou Shuwen asked with a smile.

Liu Banxia nodded. "It’s a really exhilarating feeling. By the way, Director, your splenectomy was so fast, how did you do it?"

"Probably because I’ve removed too many," Zhou Shuwen said seriously after a moment’s thought.

If anyone else had said that, it would have sounded like a joke. But coming from Zhou Shuwen, with such a solemn expression, it was simply a statement of fact.

"Dr. Shi, you should take the Director to rest. Hasn’t he been working non-stop since morning?" Wei Yuan said.

"Oh, that’s right!" Liu Banxia slapped his forehead. "A hepatectomy in the morning, a gastrectomy in the afternoon, and then this whole ordeal in the evening. We probably rested for less than an hour during lunch, right?"

"We’re used to it. Shi Lei and I are going to grab a late-night meal. Everyone here today performed very well," Zhou Shuwen said, then led Shi Lei out of the operating room.

"Exhilarating, truly exhilarating! So this is what it feels like to operate with the Director," Wei Yuan said gleefully once Zhou Shuwen was out of earshot.

"It’s easy to get addicted; you need to control yourself. I, on the other hand, think our Old Wang was truly incredible today. To maintain the patient’s vital signs so stably, I’m really impressed," Liu Banxia said.

"Would you believe me if I said I’m soaked through with sweat, and I might not be able to reach that level again if I had to do it over?" Wang Lei said with a wry smile. "Sigh... The proportion of patients like this in the emergency department will surely increase a lot in the future. I don’t know how much further my hairline can recede."

No success is achieved by chance. Wang Lei, as the anesthesiologist, managed to maintain the patient’s vital signs and support him through this surgery thanks to the accumulation of his past experience. The same was true for Liu Banxia. Even with the system’s help, if he hadn’t undergone such prolonged intensive training and developed his own understanding, he wouldn’t have been able to coordinate effectively in today’s surgery.

From the system’s rewards alone, what he received for this surgery seemed pitifully small. This was because he wasn’t the chief surgeon but had assisted throughout. However, what he truly gained was far more than the system rewards could offer. This was the first time Wei Yuan had experienced such a surgery. After going through such an ordeal, both their mentality and surgical skills would see improvement.

When they emerged from the operating room, they were met with enthusiastic applause – a spontaneous congratulation from those who had been observing their surgery.

Basking in the applause, even Liu Banxia, who was usually quite thick-skinned, felt a bit embarrassed amidst his joy. The honor accorded to them was too great. It would have been fine if I had just tagged along with Zhou Shuwen when he came out.

Is this what a hero’s welcome feels like? Although it was far from the entire hospital turning out, receiving such treatment was a strong affirmation from his colleagues at Second Hospital.

In the history of Second Hospital, there hadn’t been an emergency surgery of this magnitude for many years. It could even be called a milestone for the hospital.