Chapter 237: Sloppy Surgery (Part 1 of 5)
Zheng Ren pointed at one of the arterial branches on the bladder. “Su Yun, mark this spot down,” he said to the assistant, who was standing behind him.
Su Yun recorded the position of the spot that Zheng Ren had specified with a pen and paper.
He did not write it down in English or Chinese characters, opting instead for a sequence of unique symbols that only he could understand.
Even though his notes were simple, the A4-sized paper was almost completely filled and on the verge of being switched out.
He already had three full pages of notes.
“What is it? Any progress?” Su Yun had noticed slight changes in Zheng Ren’s expression and suspected another new breakthrough.
“I think we can give it a try. It would be better to have a thinner guide wire. Given the surgical tools on hand, though, we may as well go with our original plan of using the neurological guide wire to dredge the thin arterioles,” said Zheng Ren.
The micro guide wire used in neurological interventional surgeries had the shortest diameter, which made it more difficult to control.
Even then, their available tools were not sufficient for prostate interventional surgery.
They had no choice but to make the best out of what they had.
After a brief discussion, they continued working.
As he performed image reconstruction, Zheng Ren periodically ordered Su Yun to record a particular location. The anatomical positions he pinpointed seemed scattered and random.
The perfect assistant as always, Su Yun stood behind Zheng Ren and kept his focus for 10 hours straight without any distractions.
At 4.12 a.m., Zheng Ren finally finished reconstructing the last branch of the capillary network. He inhaled deeply and a long-awaited smile appeared on his face.
“Is it done?”
“We’re almost there. Our skills will be put to test in the following procedure.” Zheng Ren pointed to the screen and said, “There are 6 arteries that branch out into arterioles before reaching the capillary network to supply blood to the prostate.”
“Are you confident about this?” Su Yun doubted the feasibility of Zheng Ren’s method. With current technology, it was impossible to perform superselective catheterization and embolization on those tiny capillaries.
“Not at all,” Zheng Ren admitted truthfully.
The 3D-image reconstruction of the 64-slice CT scan was only the first step of this procedure. It was their battle map, allowing them to plan their next steps.
Other than that… Zheng Ren started calculating his surgery training hours and remaining experience points.
Was it wise to splurge on this? There seemed no better time to do so.
However, he recalled having one or two golden chests. Was it worth trying his luck? The second the thought crossed his mind, it was immediately dismissed by Zheng Ren.
Luck was not to be relied upon.
Zheng Ren had already decided on the preliminary surgical framework after reconstructing the first branch of the capillary network several hours ago.
Since the capillaries were too fine, he planned to mimic the technique he had used during Lin Jiaojiao’s eye surgery to clear her ophthalmic artery. First, he had to insert the micro guide wire into a capillary thinner than it was. On top of that, he had to keep the force below arterial compliance to prevent postoperative bleeding.
Such an unconventional operation was rare. Those who tried it usually ended up failing; were it not for Zheng Ren’s success with Lin Jiaojiao’s eye surgery, Su Yun and Chief Kong would have turned down his proposed surgical method.
Even with that success under their belts, they remained uncertain of the method.
This surgery was just obscenely difficult. Nevertheless, after discussing it among themselves, they decided on using a locally-manufactured micro guide wire as its shortcomings could prove advantageous later.
The locally-manufactured wire was less pliable, making it much more difficult to operate compared to imported ones.
Harder guide wires usually complicated regular surgeries. However, applied to Zheng Ren’s “dredging” method, that inflexibility could be to their benefit. With enough caution, it could help their surgery significantly.
Therefore, Department Chief Kong had gone ahead to notify Feng Xuhui that they would be using his company’s guide wires.
He was not a hundred percent sure that Feng Xuhui could convey their plans accurately and provide them with the tools they needed.
Nonetheless, after seeing Feng Xuhui shadow Zheng Ren over the last few days, Chief Kong decided to do the man a favor and requested a direct line to his superior from China Changfeng Microinvasive Surgery.
Zheng Ren neither knew nor cared about the whole ordeal.
His entire focus was on the design of his surgical procedure.
Above all else, he understood that the surgery failing would render everything else meaningless.
Zheng Ren woke Chief Kong, who had fallen asleep in his chair, and whispered, “Go and have a good rest.”
“I’ll take a nap back at the interventional radiology department. If you still have the energy, you can observe the surgery performed by Professor Rudolf Wagner from Heidelberg University. See if you can get something out of it,” Chief Kong said.
Zheng Ren nodded.
Someone at thirty could technically burn the midnight oil. In fact, staying up all night was a mandatory skill for clinicians and chief residents of the emergency department. However, department chiefs slowly lost the ability to do the same as they aged.
It was simply nature’s relentless advance.
They left the CT room. This time, Feng Xuhui was not waiting for them outside, most likely already on the way to the airport to receive his boss.
Chief Kong was on the brink of exhaustion even as he reached the demonstration room and switched on the video recording. Then, he went straight into his office to take a nap, yawning all the way.
He had to rest while he could as there could be other unforeseen events that needed his attention later.
Only Zheng Ren and Su Yun watched the recording of Professor Rudolf Wagner’s surgery together.
Su Yun felt the same as he did last night when he had first watched it with the other professors. The foreigner’s proficient skill, coupled with a precisely crafted micro guide wire and microcatheter, made the surgery perfect in every aspect.
Su Yun sighed, feeling defeated.
Based on his experience in interventional surgery, Professor Rudolf Wagner was slightly better than Zheng Ren. With the aid of similarly precise tools, Zheng Ren would probably be able to outperform this surgery.
It would not take much for him to transcend Professor Wagner.
Zheng Ren was not even thirty years old. In five years… no, three at most, his skills would most definitely surpass Professor Rudolf Wagner’s.
However, this meant that their current research was a failure.
Su Yun could not have cared less about its final outcome, but his own competitiveness burned as he recognized the daunting peak of Professor Wagner’s skill.
On video, Professor Rudolf Wagner had completed the surgery smoothly. It had taken little over an hour to perform the prostate interventional embolization, excluding preoperative preparations and cleanup.
It was near perfection.
“What do you think, Boss?” Su Yun’s acerbic manner returned as he turned to see Zheng Ren watching the recording, rapt with attention.
“The surgery was sloppy,” Zheng Ren replied.
“…” Su Yun was caught completely flat-footed. He froze for a moment and simply stared at Zheng Ren as if the man was a monster.
Was this man in his right mind?