Chapter 308: Chapter 308

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For a surgery that would last so long, Liu Banxia and his team decided to have lunch earlier.

They had to eat. If they didn’t, the long duration of the surgery would truly be unbearable for those participating, whether they were operating or observing.

"If any of you can’t hold on, try to slip out as quietly as possible. There will be immense pressure when we’re separating the adhesions, and any sudden movements from you could cause our hands to slip," Liu Banxia said after lunch.

"Teacher Liu, don’t worry, we definitely won’t cause you any trouble," Xu Yino said.

"Good. Rest for half an hour, then we’ll get started," Liu Banxia said, glancing at his phone.

Rest was necessary. After eating, blood concentrates in the stomach to digest food, making people drowsy. When possible, it’s best to set aside this time to be more energetic later.

About ten minutes into their rest, Liu Banxia’s phone rang. At first, he thought it was Qiaoqiao, but was surprised to see that it was Director Xie from the city hospital’s burn unit.

"Director Xie, this is Liu Banxia," Liu Banxia hurriedly answered the phone.

"We just received a patient in our emergency department who attempted suicide by ingesting rat poison. According to his girlfriend, he had previously visited your hospital’s emergency department," Xie Chunli said.

"Indeed, that patient did come. We were only allowed to do a blood test. He also claimed to have colon cancer and had undergone three rounds of chemotherapy. He left the hospital after signing the informed consent document," Liu Banxia said.

"That’s good. The patient is reported to be very emotional. Since he ingested a small amount and arrived promptly at the hospital, his life isn’t in immediate danger. He’s threatening to call the police, though, claiming that you forced him to attempt suicide. He also said he would report you to the health department," Xie Chunli said.

"Thank you for informing me. This is truly an ungrounded disaster," Liu Banxia said with a bitter smile.

"I believe he fabricated the colon cancer and chemotherapy story. Ingesting the rat poison was likely an attempt to make his girlfriend stay by his side. He also caused quite a scene at our hospital, probably as a last-ditch effort to keep her."

"I see. As long as there was no oversight on your part, that’s good. I’ll leave it at that then," said Xie Chunli before hanging up the phone.

Liu Banxia put away his phone and helplessly shook his head.

One can only say there are all kinds of people in this world. Although this incident wouldn’t impact me personally, it will likely cause some trouble.

He mentally reviewed the admission process once more. Finding no errors, he continued to rest.

He was taking the forthcoming surgery seriously. Although the procedure was not as complex as the one he’d previously carried out on a patient whose finger was infected with flesh-eating bacteria, it was not far off.

That patient’s infection was confined to his finger, requiring careful observation. But this patient’s infection spanned the entire abdominal cavity, even affecting the liver.

The rest period was brief, but it was still very beneficial for Liu Banxia.

He didn’t inform the team about the patient’s potential complaint to the health department. I’ll take full responsibility for this. I was there, and besides, I’m the chief resident.

"Boss, it feels like it’s been a long time since we last operated together, hasn’t it?" Liu Banxia said on the way to the operating room.

"You’re right. I find you annoying now. Your hand speed is too fast; it’s too demoralizing," Shi Lei shot him a glance.

"Boss, I may be fast, but in terms of efficiency, I’m not much better than you," Liu Banxia shook his head.

"I’m okay with regular suturing now. I’ve watched you and the director perform vascular sutures several times, and you’re both far better than I am. I still need to work hard; I’m lacking in delicate work."

"What more could you ask for? You’re already skilled enough. Can’t you leave us a way to survive?" Shi Lei joked, a rare occurrence.

This stemmed from his understanding of Liu Banxia; he knew Liu was very concerned about the upcoming surgery. Bantering was Liu Banxia’s unique way of relaxing.

Others might not be able to emulate it. Today, Liu Banxia was the chief surgeon, so everyone had to go along with him.

This is the chief surgeon’s status in the operating room; everyone else is there to assist the chief surgeon. If you’re skilled but don’t cooperate with the chief surgeon, you might disrupt the surgery and affect the patient.

Arriving at the operating room, Wang Lei and the others had already completed their preparations. They were a little excited when they saw Shi Lei would also be participating in the surgery.

The three of them had a very good relationship, but opportunities to be in the same operating room were few.

"Everyone is clear on the patient’s actual condition, so I won’t elaborate. Old Wang, you’re in charge of vital signs. Dr. Shi and I will do our utmost to shorten the surgical time," Liu Banxia said after the patient was anesthetized.

"Next, I’ll assign tasks. Dr. Shi, choose one person as your first assistant. Liang Xiaolin will be my first assistant. Sister Mei will be Dr. Shi’s scrub nurse, and Miao Rui will be my scrub nurse."

"Okay, Qing Kewa will be my first assistant," Shi Lei nodded.

Even though Qing Kewa was Liu Banxia’s trainee, Shi Lei also had his own interns. However, Liu Banxia had been leading them for the recent period, so Shi Lei wasn’t very familiar with their capabilities on the operating table.

Qing Kewa was different. She had participated in many surgeries back in Russia, and after spending time with Liu Banxia, her professional skills had improved significantly.

One shouldn’t underestimate the slightly earlier time she and Liang Xiaolin spent in the emergency department; it was genuinely very helpful for the improvement of their professional abilities.

The surgery began, and Liu Banxia focused all his attention on dealing with these adhesions.

There are many reasons for the formation of abdominal adhesions, such as inflammation, trauma, or postoperative complications. This patient’s adhesions were caused by inflammation.

Moreover, they were rather complex, gelatinous adhesions, indicating they had been present for quite some time.

Abdominal adhesions can be very harmful, especially intestinal adhesions. Once intestinal adhesions form, they can easily affect normal intestinal peristalsis, leading to intestinal obstruction.

For this patient, however, his intestinal adhesions were actually the easiest to remove. The adhesions in other organ locations were more problematic.

Due to the characteristic movement of the intestines, the symptoms of his intestinal adhesions weren’t particularly severe. Only a very few points required careful exploration with intraoperative ultrasound.

"The adhesions are truly severe; they’ve already caused organ damage. Especially around the spleen, some blood vessels have become very brittle," Shi Lei said after clearing some away.

"My side is similar, more severe than anticipated," Liu Banxia said.

"The surgical time might be extended further. Old Wang, it’s all up to you. Otherwise, I’m worried we won’t be able to finish the surgery."

"Don’t have such high expectations for me. I can guarantee stability for four hours, no problem. If it exceeds four hours, we’ll have to see what fate decrees," Wang Lei said.

This was a situation everyone understood. The patient’s current physical condition was much poorer than that of a healthy person. The longer the surgery, the greater the harm to the patient. This is why many doctors often say they worry the patient might not make it off the operating table.

Not all surgeries can be completed in thirty or forty minutes. The human body has always been very mysterious; you can’t fully measure it with scientific knowledge alone.

Liu Banxia also encountered a similar problem to Shi Lei’s. One adhesion had infiltrated quite deeply, becoming entangled with the mesentery. Intraoperative ultrasound revealed it had likely infiltrated the vessel wall.

If they wanted to remove this adhesion, it was highly probable they would injure this blood vessel. This was a situation anticipated before the surgery, so Liu Banxia wasn’t too flustered.

He carefully examined the intestinal segment again; this part of the intestine was still fine.

So, Liu Banxia now had two choices. One was to dissect out the blood vessel, ligate it, and replace this segment with a vascular graft. The other was to risk dissecting the adhesion. The difference lay in the amount of blood loss and the patient’s postoperative prognosis.

"Doctor Liang, I will do my utmost to dissect these adhesions. If you see that I’ve damaged a blood vessel, staunch the bleeding immediately," Liu Banxia said after some consideration. For origınal chapters go to 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽

"Alright," Liang Xiaolin responded.

Liu Banxia gritted his teeth, brought up the system panel, spent 100 Glory Points to exchange for an Exquisite Ruby, and immediately socketed it.

DING! Exquisite Ruby successfully socketed. Gained 3 Agility points, current Agility: 73. Stability, speed, and tactile sensitivity increased by 32.56%.

Although it cost a lot, it was worth it. After all, this surgery will be very long, and potions have time limits. Even if socketing this only increases Agility by 3 points, it’s a permanent boost.

Liu Banxia operated with extreme care. The observing interns were all breaking out in a nervous sweat. This was operating right against the vessel wall. One or two passes might not be a big deal, but this was a length of a full two centimeters.

"Sweat," Liu Banxia said, turning his head aside after dissecting for a while.

Liu Yiqing, waiting by his side, wiped his sweat without any hesitation.

Liu Banxia flexed his wrist. "Doctor Liang, when retracting the adhesions, be a tiny bit gentler."

"Alright," Liang Xiaolin responded.

Liu Banxia composed himself and continued operating.

The interns, watching the faint movements of the blood vessel as Liu Banxia dissected, were on pins and needles, let alone Liu Banxia, the chief surgeon himself.

It took Liu Banxia a full 34 minutes to dissect the two-centimeter-long vascular adhesion. With each incision, he focused all his mental energy, deliberated carefully, and only made a move after sensing the feedback from his hand.

Although it took a long time, he finally managed to dissect it completely.

Liu Banxia let out a long sigh. This seemingly simple surgery, not requiring too many advanced techniques, truly demands solid fundamental skills.

During the dissection just now, he had even slightly adjusted the angle of his scalpel, and finally, he meticulously shaved it thinner and thinner until the adherent tissue was removed.

He removed his surgical loupes, needing to let his eyes rest for a moment.

After operating for so long, even with Shi Lei working alongside him, they hadn’t even finished half of it.

However, Liu Banxia didn’t resume immediately. Instead, he carefully moved his body, preparing for the next phase of dissection.

In the eyes of the others, this was an almost miraculous feat of skill. The vessel wall was now incredibly fragile; even slightly excessive force would cause it to rupture.

They could have originally used high-frequency electrocautery with ultrasound guidance to remove it bit by bit, but the blood vessel was too fragile, and the risk of rupture during electrocautery was even greater.

Yet, Liu Banxia had managed to complete such a difficult dissection.