CHAPTER 486: A CURIOUS RESULT OF 486

"Tell me, why would you make such a basic mistake?"

After the patient was wheeled away, Liu Banxia asked with a stern face.

"Teacher Liu, I was wrong. I’ll never be this careless again," Xu Yino quickly said.

"Where was your mistake?"

Liu Banxia’s expression didn’t lighten, keeping everyone else in the trauma room still.

"I... I saw that the patient had no fractures in the cervical vertebrae, spine, sternum, or pelvis, so I became a little careless," Xu Yino explained.

"When admitting patients, especially those with injuries from high falls, we cannot afford any carelessness at all," Liu Banxia said. "This is your first time, and I hope it’s your last. Everyone else, remember this too: misdiagnosing an emergency patient is a major taboo."

"I can’t guarantee I’ll never miss a diagnosis, but I will demand of myself to conduct thorough and careful examinations. Especially with fall or impact injuries, we must pay extra attention to recesses and depressions."

"Being careful ten thousand times doesn’t make up for a single instance of carelessness. Otherwise, it’s not me you’re letting down; it’s all those chicken legs you’ve eaten."

He added the last sentence to lighten the mood, realizing he might have been a bit too harsh. However, in situations like this, he had to give everyone a stern reminder.

Xu Yino wrinkled her nose. Tears welled in her eyes, but she held them back. The criticism from Liu Banxia was deserved. She had become a bit complacent lately. Being valued by Liu Banxia and invited to stay at the hospital was already proof of her capabilities. It was this mentality that had allowed her focus to waver.

"Wang Chao, you accompany Xu Yino to the OR. Let her take the lead. She made the mess; she needs to clean it up," Liu Banxia said to Wang Chao after they stepped out.

"You’re just seeking personal revenge. Little Xu, just be more careful next time," Wang Chao comforted her.

"Teacher Wang, it really is my fault. Teacher Liu told us before that recesses and depressions are the easiest to overlook and that we must scan them slowly and meticulously during ultrasounds," Xu Yino said.

Wang Chao rolled his eyes. Seriously, still defending that guy Liu Banxia at a time like this? It’s like a bright moon shining on a stinking drain—a complete waste.

"Don’t look at me like that. Do you think they’re all fragile? Every single person working in our Emergency Center, doctor or nurse, hasn’t every single one of us been tempered through hardship?" Liu Banxia said cheerfully.

"Making mistakes now, I actually think it’s a good thing. They have attending physicians watching over them, able to make necessary corrections. Once they become resident doctors with prescribing rights, who will be there to help if they make a mistake then?"

"They’re all growing very quickly. The faster they grow, the more prone they are to problems. My thanks to Comrade Xu Yino for providing us with this case study. We’ll continue with extra chicken legs tomorrow at noon. Wang Chao’s treat."

"My god, are you trying to make life impossible?" Wang Chao played along and yelled.

"Teacher Wang, let me treat you to pig’s trotters," Xu Yino offered.

"Doctor Wang still owes me a pig’s trotter," Qing Kewa chimed in, not wanting to be left out.

"I get it now; you’re all in cahoots with Liu Banxia. Go get ready for surgery. Let him deal with the mess that’s about to unfold here," Wang Chao glanced towards the entrance of the Emergency Center and strutted off, pleased with himself.

Liu Banxia pursed his lips. The woman who had just entered had a formidable aura. She might be the wife of the patient from earlier.

Fortunately, a police officer was present. He approached the woman, briefly explained the situation, and managed to temporarily calm her down.

"Doctor, how is he?" the patient’s wife asked, walking over after getting the gist of the situation.

"Currently, there’s intra-abdominal bleeding and a fracture at the distal end of the right fibular neck, but it doesn’t appear to be very severe. He’s being taken for a head CT now. As for the abdominal injuries, we won’t know the full extent until we perform an exploratory laparotomy."

The patient’s wife frowned. "He needs an open surgery? Can’t you do a minimally invasive one?"

"We don’t have enough time to perform another abdominal CT, and we’re currently unsure of the condition of his abdomen. If we opt for laparoscopic surgery and then find we need to convert to an open procedure, it will waste more precious resuscitation time," Liu Banxia explained.

The patient’s wife nodded and said no more.

As luck would have it, Liu Yiqing had just finished tending to the other woman involved, and the two women locked eyes. Without a second thought, the patient’s wife lunged at the other woman.

Even with Liu Banxia and the police officers doing their best, it took several minutes to separate them. Since they were women, they had to be more careful when trying to pull them apart.

"Looks like I’ll need to get some late-night snacks today; their fighting power was impressive. Maybe we can let the other one go home first?" Liu Banxia said, wiping sweat from his brow.

"We still need to take their statements. Handling these kinds of situations is actually quite troublesome," the police officer said with a wry smile.

Liu Banxia nodded in understanding. This was hardly an isolated case among the patients admitted to the Emergency Center. Although the man fell while trying to evade someone, the circumstances of the fall could lead to various legal complications. It seemed there were many legal precedents for such situations.

"Surgery’s complete. He’s being sent to the ward," Liang Xiaolin announced, emerging from the elevator.

"Rest for a bit, then let’s get ready for dinner," Liu Banxia nodded.

"How’s the discussion about the patient’s cough going?" Liang Xiaolin asked.

"You’re interested too? Those guys haven’t figured it out yet; they have to keep working on it," Liu Banxia said cheerfully.

Liang Xiaolin shot him her customary glare. "What if the patient coughs severely during the recovery period?"

Liu Banxia shrugged. "At the very least, there shouldn’t be any problems before the anesthesia completely wears off. There are still several hours. Once Xu Yino and her team are out of surgery, we’ll have a consultation together then."

Liang Xiaolin was long accustomed to Liu Banxia’s mischievous ways. She didn’t pursue it further, but her mind was also trying to figure out what exactly was causing the patient’s chronic cough.

"Were you a bit too harsh on Xu Yino just now?" Shi Lei asked, approaching him.

"Don’t worry, that girl is tough. Sometimes, you really can’t treat female doctors as just ’girls,’ always thinking about what special considerations they need. They all need to develop mental fortitude, or they’ll run into problems sooner or later," Liu Banxia said.

Shi Lei nodded, and the matter was dropped. Everyone had their own teaching methods, and besides, he felt Liu Banxia understood these interns better.

"Dr. Liu, a female patient with abdominal pain and vomiting is being brought in shortly," the dispatch nurse called out.

"Liu Yiqing will take her," Liu Banxia said.

He had thought today might be a bit easier. Turns out, even though patients weren’t flooding in all at once, they were still arriving in a steady stream.

Before long, paramedics wheeled a patient in.

"Twenty-one-year-old female, sudden onset of abdominal pain, vomited twice. Blood pressure 90/130, heart rate 110," the paramedic reported.

"On the examination bed. Can you tell me where it hurts? Is it a cramping pain or a dull ache?" Liu Yiqing asked the patient, who was curled up on the gurney.

The patient, in too much pain to speak, barely managed to look at her.

After the patient was moved to the examination bed, Liu Yiqing performed a brief physical exam, ruling out appendicitis and cholecystitis, which are common initial considerations for patients presenting with acute abdominal pain in the ER.

Next would be an ultrasound to check for conditions like intestinal perforation or obstruction.

"The pancreas is somewhat enlarged. It might be acute pancreatitis. Let’s get an abdominal CT. Order a complete blood count and blood chemistry panel," Liu Yiqing said after scanning for a short while.

"Doctor, is it serious?" the patient’s father asked anxiously.

"We still need to see the results of the abdominal CT. My initial ultrasound showed some pancreatic enlargement. We need the CT to determine if it’s edema, a hematoma, or a condition caused by other lesions," Liu Yiqing said calmly.

"Rest assured, I will arrange for an expedited CT. As soon as we have a definitive diagnosis, we will begin targeted treatment. Please go and complete the admission paperwork. There are many potential causes for this condition. One of you will also need to stay and provide me with the patient’s medical history."

Liu Banxia, who was nearby, nodded approvingly. Throughout the initial consultation, Liu Yiqing had performed very well. She was calm, spoke to the point, and remembered to inquire about the patient’s medical history. Acute pancreatitis has so many potential causes; if he were to explain them all to these parents, he probably wouldn’t get anything else done tonight.

"Dr. Liu, Doctor Wang asked me to inform you that the fall patient from earlier has a perforated intestine," Zhou Qian said, walking over.

Liu Banxia nodded. "He’s quite lucky, all things considered. But he certainly can’t expect a peaceful New Year. What I’m most worried about now is this young woman. Pancreatic issues, regardless of the cause, are always very dangerous."

"Dr. Liu, should I go and try to expedite the blood test results?" Zhou Qian asked.

"Alright, thanks for your hard work," Liu Banxia said.

"It’s no trouble," Zhou Qian replied and hurried off to the lab.

"No, I still can’t go eat in peace. Tell me, what’s wrong with my patient? You must have some idea," Liang Xiaolin said, approaching him again.

"Seriously, aren’t you hungry? Go take a look at the triage station yourself; I’ve already written it down," Liu Banxia said.

Liang Xiaolin glanced at him, then dashed straight to the triage station. After seeing the diagnosis Liu Banxia had written, she first frowned, then smacked her forehead, an expression of sudden realization dawning on her face.

"Keep it a secret. Those six youngsters haven’t given their answers yet," Liu Banxia said, having sauntered over.

"You’re something else," Liang Xiaolin retorted, then left to eat, full of fighting spirit.

Su Wenhao and the others, who had been watching, were practically dying of curiosity. This development suggested Teacher Liu’s guess was likely spot on. But what about them? They still didn’t have the slightest clue.

Li Hao couldn’t take it anymore and ran over too. After reading the note Liu Banxia had left, his expression was similar to Liang Xiaolin’s, though he didn’t smack his forehead.

This piqued the curiosity of not only the interns but also Shi Lei and Wei Yuan, who were present. After a moment’s thought, still not quite grasping it, they too went over for a look.