CHAPTER 489: 489 SYMPATHETIC YOUNG COUPLE

(Thank you to Lonely Cold 671112 for the million coins, and thank you to zyj13 for the monthly tickets of encouragement)

DING! Successfully exchanged for Strong Spiritual Stability Potion, consuming 50 Glory Points.

DING! Received 8 Spirit points. Comprehension, Memory, and Focus increased by 14.28%. This effect lasts for 3 minutes.

DING! Received 8 Agility points. Stability, Speed, and Touch increased by 14.81%. This effect lasts for 3 minutes.

This was Liu Banxia’s confidence to dare and take the risk. This patient’s condition was severe. If the fluid in the pericardium wasn’t drained immediately, he wouldn’t even make it to the operating room.

Although there was a standard position and procedure for pericardiocentesis, not everyone’s heart grew so conveniently, just like what you’d see in a model.

Anesthesia? Is there even time for that now? We can only manage skin disinfection.

Because the patient was in a supine position, Liu Banxia chose the subxiphoid approach. The puncture needle was angled at 45 degrees to the skin and inserted obliquely.

Watching such a long, thick needle slowly go in, many of the more timid onlookers couldn’t bear to watch. They knew it was to save a life, but this method of saving someone was terrifying.

Liu Banxia now had his eyes closed, sweat beading on his forehead. He needed to rely on the tactile feedback from his hands to sense the needle’s trajectory. Just like the last time he drew cerebrospinal fluid from that patient, there was absolutely no room for error.

His right hand paused slightly; he felt the moment the needle tip met empty space. This should be it—I’ve pierced the pericardium and entered the pericardial cavity, right?

Xu Yino watched intently, not even blinking. When she saw Liu Banxia slowly draw fluid from the patient’s pericardium and the patient’s breathing return to normal, the tense Xu Yino slumped directly onto the ground.

Teacher Liu is so amazing, a successful blind aspiration!

After pulling out the needle, Liu Banxia, who had been remarkably calm throughout, also sank to the floor, disregarding his image. "Quickly perform an echocardiogram! Call the cardiothoracic surgeons! Get him back for an urgent CT scan! Send the aspirated fluid to the lab for urgent testing!"

DING! Pericardiocentesis completed.

Received 200 experience points, 200 proficiency in Diagnostic Techniques, and 500 proficiency in Cardiac Surgery Techniques.

This task is rated as Perfect: Received 300 experience points, 300 proficiency in Diagnostic Techniques, 800 proficiency in Cardiac Surgery Techniques, and 10 Glory Points.

Congratulations to the host for leveling up to Level 52 (145,315/151,590 EXP). Received 1 attribute point and 5 Glory Points.

The surgery was risky and highly dangerous, but the rewards are substantial,

Liu Banxia thought, startled. All this sweat... it wasn’t for nothing after that scare.

"Where did he stick that? Such a long needle!"

"Didn’t you hear what that young doctor just said? Something about the pericardium being blocked. He must have punctured the heart."

"Nonsense! You can live after a needle to the heart? How about I stick you and see, huh?"

"Get lost! You’re not a doctor. I’d feel safer if this doctor here did it to me."

...

Hearing the crowd’s chatter, Liu Banxia grinned. "Alright, everyone, you’ve seen the excitement. This is a dangerous procedure performed by professionals. Please, do not attempt to imitate it."

"Doctor, what happened to that young man just now?" a patient’s family member nearby asked. "At first, he just seemed to be having a little trouble breathing, and then he collapsed. He was coughing a bit too. Is it some kind of infectious disease?"

"Everyone, please don’t worry. Just as Doctor Xu promptly diagnosed earlier, this is cardiac tamponade," Liu Banxia explained.

"Actually, it’s a fairly common medical condition. Our heart is enclosed in a pericardial sac. If too much fluid or blood accumulates inside this sac, it can gradually cause the heart to stop beating."

"The heart is like our body’s engine, right? If the engine stalls, the person’s life is in danger. Cardiac tamponade can be caused by many things—trauma, infections in the thoracic cavity, and so on, can all lead to this."

"So, please don’t worry. However, when this patient returns, we’ll need to squeeze him in for further procedures. Given his condition, I hope everyone won’t mind. The patient load hasn’t been too heavy these past couple of days, so let’s try to be understanding of each other."

Although he had calmed the crowd, Liu Banxia himself didn’t feel at ease.

This patient must be the one Wang Huan mentioned earlier. I didn’t expect the illness to progress so rapidly. This is definitely not a simple lung inflammation.

DING! New Task Issued: Patient with Rapidly Worsening Lung Disease.

Open-ended task: At the invitation of Dr. Wang Huan, conduct a consultation. The patient’s condition is deteriorating rapidly; the cause must be identified as soon as possible. Task rewards will be issued based on the diagnostic results.

"Wang Huan, the patient who triggered the alarm just now was the one you consulted with earlier," Liu Banxia said after returning to the internal medicine consultation room.

"What? What happened just now?" Wang Huan asked, suddenly tense.

"Cardiac tamponade. Dr. Liu performed a pericardiocentesis on the spot. The patient has now been sent for an echocardiogram," Xu Yino quickly explained.

"How is that possible? I auscultated his heart sounds during the examination and didn’t detect anything abnormal," Wang Huan said.

"His case was likely acute. I didn’t aspirate much fluid during the pericardiocentesis," Liu Banxia replied.

"Plus, he already had lung inflammation. The combination of these two factors likely caused his condition to deteriorate so suddenly and severely. Let’s wait for the test results; his lung condition is probably quite serious."

"By the way, did he take any medication himself at home? Sometimes, adverse drug reactions can also cause cardiac tamponade, can’t they?"

"I already asked. He just took some cephalosporins at home. And it wasn’t just recently; he’d been taking them for about four days. He came to the hospital because he saw no improvement," Wang Huan said.

"They’re a young couple, just married. They’ve spent the last two months honeymooning abroad. They only just got back, wanting to spend the New Year at home with their family."

"They couldn’t have contracted some pathogen while traveling abroad, could they?" Liu Banxia asked, frowning.

"Probably not. They went to Dubai, the Maldives, Bali, and Thailand—a grand tour," Wang Huan replied.

"You could call them new-age youths. They earned money by live-streaming while traveling and having fun. So, while others spend money on their honeymoon, they were actually making it."

"That really makes it difficult to investigate," Liu Banxia mused. "Xu Yino, go online later and search if there have been any disease outbreaks in those four locations. Even if it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack, we have to at least start looking."

Xu Yino nodded and moved to a computer to begin her search.

"It’s a good thing you rushed over earlier. Otherwise, I doubt anyone else would have dared to perform the pericardiocentesis directly like that," Wang Huan said.

"You might as well just call me recklessly bold," Liu Banxia retorted. "If I weren’t waiting for the patient’s test results, I’d definitely have to go change. I’m soaked through with sweat."

"I was so scared back then I couldn’t move. I just thought the patient was done for, that there was no way to save him," Xu Yino confessed.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Liu Banxia said. "I distinctly remember *someone* almost misdiagnosing a patient yesterday."

Xu Yino felt helpless. That’s the Great Demon King for you; you never know when he’s going to take a jab at you.

"You performed the pericardiocentesis on the patient whose alarm went off just now, didn’t you?" Chen Xuehai walked over, his expression serious.

Liu Banxia suddenly felt uneasy. Don’t tell me I actually messed something up?

Even though the system gave a perfect rating, that was only for the immediate response I provided at the time.

"No, he’s fine. The echocardiogram didn’t reveal any other problems. He’s been sent for a CT scan," Chen Xuehai said.

Liu Banxia shot him a resentful look. Must you scare people like that?

"However," Chen Xuehai continued, "while he was undergoing the echocardiogram, his wife also developed symptoms: difficulty breathing, wheezing. She was given oxygen and has also been sent for a CT scan."

"What the—No way!" Liu Banxia exclaimed, losing his composure. "Are they both infected with the same pathogen?"

"The initial assessment suggests it’s quite similar. The onset was acute for both of them," Chen Xuehai replied. "However, the final determination will depend on the CT scans. I’m quite curious myself. What’s the situation with this couple?"

Xu Yino quickly recounted the situation and also shared her search results. There was no news of relevant disease outbreaks, only that Bali had experienced a volcanic eruption some time ago.

Everyone was aware of that incident. It had caused quite a stir at the time; the nation’s evacuation efforts had even deeply impressed the world.

"Call me when the CT results are out. I’m very interested in these two cases," Chen Xuehai stated.

"Oh, by the way, your pericardiocentesis today was impressive. That patient has a rather small pericardial sac, so even a not-so-large amount of effusion made his condition critical."

Hearing Chen Xuehai’s words, Liu Banxia felt another bead of cold sweat form.

If this had happened in the past, he wouldn’t have thought much of it, simply taking it as praise—a glorious achievement. Just like the admiring look Xu Yino was giving him now; the procedure had been brilliant, truly awesome.

But he didn’t think that way anymore. His understanding of medicine, and of the medical profession itself, had become more profound.

A smaller pericardial sac meant there wasn’t much space within it. The fact that his procedure had been flawless... he could genuinely say that fate had been watching over him.

"Feeling a bit unnerved?" Wang Huan asked with a smile, noticing Liu Banxia’s expression.

"How could I not be?" Liu Banxia shook his head with a bitter smile. "The line between saving a life and taking one can be razor-thin."

Xu Yino blinked, wisely choosing not to offer further praise. She was beginning to understand Liu Banxia’s feelings from moments ago. After saving a life, all that was left was profound relief and thankfulness.

Liu Banxia no longer had any inclination to step outside. The Emergency Center could be described as "quiet" today, aside from the wave of patients that morning.

The CT scan results weren’t back yet. Xu Yino took a trip to the lab and returned with very bad news: the fluid aspirated from the male patient’s pericardial sac was pus. This meant the patient’s infection had suppurated.

This was extremely dangerous. If the underlying cause couldn’t be identified quickly, the patient’s heart itself could be compromised.

"It seems the husband was likely infected first, right? Is that why his infection is more severe?" Liu Banxia asked.

"After they return from their CT scans, we’ll have to question them again thoroughly. It’s quite possible the husband infected his wife. If we can’t determine the cause of the husband’s illness, the wife might develop empyema next," Wang Huan replied, frowning.

He hadn’t anticipated this. A couple who initially presented with what seemed like minor issues... their conditions had progressed with such alarming speed.