Chapter 279: Expanding Your Horizons (Part 3 of 4)
The physical examination revealed that the patient was experiencing chills and a high fever, as well as signs of abdominal guarding and abnormal muscle rigidity.
Department Chief Xia had no other choice but to proceed with surgery.
The patient was transferred to the second general surgery department.
Ever since the emergency department had taken his patient, the first general surgery department chief, Dr. Liu had yet to clock in, leaving only the second general surgery department chief, Dr. Sun.
They prepared for the emergency procedure.
Department Chief Sun was mindful when handling the case as he did not want to offend anyone. He made a call to Zheng Ren and asked if he had time for a consultation.
Normally, it would be a junior doctor ringing up the department chief for assistance.
Department Chief Sun was not embarrassed by this, however; Zheng Ren was someone who could perform a Whipple procedure by himself.
Whatever doubts that he had about Zheng Ren vanished after witnessing yesterday’s emergency surgery. Zheng Ren’s quick decision to embolize the artery and allow segments of the intestines to necrotize had impressed him. The successful bowel resection surgery that followed had quelled any distrust he previously had for the young doctor.
It was a miracle and Department Chief Sun knew better than to offend someone with such talent.
Still, Zheng Ren was occupied at the moment.
Director Xiao asked, “Is there a problem with Chief Sun’s surgery?”
“I believe they’re starting the surgery. He wanted Chief Zheng to stand by for assistance,” Chu Yanran said nonchalantly.
Director Xiao was bewildered.
A chief resident, on standby to step in for a department chief?
“Chief Zheng diagnosed the patient with gallbladder torsion. I think Chief Sun worries about finding something unexpected,” Chu Yanran said, noticing Director Xiao’s odd expression.
“My God, a floating gallbladder!” Professor Rudolph Wagner said in Mandarin.
Director Xiao was not a general surgeon and did not understand the significance of the diagnosis.
“Have you seen one before, Professor Rudolph?” Department Chief Kong asked with a smile.
He knew the quirky, artsy professor was able to understand and speak Mandarin, albeit with an accent.
“I heard there was a research group in Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin who had worked on this, but their progress was limited by how rare the disease was,” Professor Rudolph Wagner replied in halting Chinese.
Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin was Germany’s top university hospital; the research lead was also a member of the German Excellence Initiative, which was how Rudolph Wagner had found out about it.
This diagnosis had piqued his interest.
“Director, I would like to have the surgery recorded if possible. It will be valuable educational material,” the professor requested.
Director Xiao agreed to it. It was a small matter, especially when it was for a foreign acquaintance. The hospital already recorded routine surgeries and a rare one like this was no exception. It would be useful for future reference.
The German professor’s request was a statement on the importance of the surgery, and indirectly, a statement about Sea City General Hospital’s reputation as a healthcare facility.
It was a win-win situation.
Director Xiao went through a few pleasantries before excusing himself to make a call, not waiting to see if the professor understood or not.
“Chief Liu, can you hold the surgery?
“A professor from Germany wants to observe.
“The patient… Hold on.” Director Xiao put the phone down and turned to Professor Rudolph. “Professor, the patient has septicemia and they can’t pause the surgery.”
The foreign professor had a look of longing as he watched Zheng Ren’s surgery. A moment later, he said, “Zheng completed the surgery in record speed. Will he be performing the next one? I’ve never seen an interventional surgeon perform general surgery.”
No one said a word.
They had never seen it before as well. It was time to expand their horizons.
Seeing Zheng Ren complete a pelvic fracture artery embolization within 20 minutes left several holes in Professor Rudolph Wagner’s pride.
Previously, he had been reluctant to concede that Zheng Ren had the Hands of God.
Now, he could not refute the moniker. It was as if God had descended upon humanity and took up the operating room.
Rudolph Wagner predicted the surgery would take an hour to complete. For a normal surgeon, the procedure would take at least three to five hours.
Interventional radiology-assisted surgery was only a few decades old; an infant compared to general surgery. The passing of knowledge spanned two or three generations of doctors at most.
Some had never even heard of interventional radiology-assisted surgery as not all hospitals were equipped with the required facilities.
Other forms of surgery had many more years’ worth of knowledge and thus expertise.
Knowing that, Professor Rudolph Wagner was blown away by Zheng Ren’s Grandmaster-level interventional surgery skill.
Were it any other field, Zheng Ren would likely have needed to reach Legend rank to be recognized by the world’s top surgeons.
Department Chief Kong had a satisfied smile as he watched Zheng Ren wrap up the surgery. “Boss Zheng’s skill has improved since his visit to Imperial Capital. Youth these days grow up so fast. There seems to be no limit to their potential. Bravo!”
Director Xiao did a double take. Had he heard that right.
Boss… Did the department chief from Imperial Capital just call Zheng Ren ‘boss’?
This was not a marketplace where the honorific could be thrown around recklessly. In the hospital, the honorific was reserved for people who had conducted nationally-acclaimed research and secured public funding for their work.
How had a chief resident in an emergency department earn the title, from an Imperial Capital department chief no less?
Could it be that his hospital had produced a legendary figure?
Director Xiao was deep in thought. On Xinglin Garden, the livestream was bombarded by numerous comments.
[Does anyone still remember the first interventional surgery, the one with the pelvic fracture and hemorrhage? Am I the only one who thinks the surgeon’s skill has grown significantly since?]
[You’re seeing things.]
[Doesn’t seem like it. I,too, feel that the surgeon has improved. The person who stitched up the abdomen seems more skilled than my department chief, and the embolization was completed before the abdomen was even closed.]
Su Yun had similar thoughts.
He had initially planned to stitch up the abdomen, clean up, and then assist Zheng Ren with the interventional procedure, but Zheng Ren completed the surgery before he was done.
Su Yun had checked the cavity for active bleeds before rinsing and suction.
The procedure was clean and neat. He could not believe Zheng Ren had managed to perform the splenectomy blind with such accuracy and precision.
When Su Yun entered the operating room, Zheng Ren had already excised the spleen. The man’s movements were getting faster and faster.
Su Yun could only sigh in defeat as he prepared to stitch up the abdomen.
When he next looked at Zheng Ren, the man was already pulling out the micro guide wire.
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