Surgery Godfather

Everyone was a bit surprised to see that it wasn’t Director Tan or Director Han or Tian Yuan who had gone out, but Yang Ping.

This type of pelvic surgery, a solid level four surgery, if it weren’t for the cap at level four, this could very well be a level five or six surgery.

At this point, this surgery had taken on a certain special significance for both sides–to defend their dignity!

Of course, the safety of the patient was the number one priority, which was the bottom line of any medical activity.

“There’s extensive serious adhesion in the pelvis, all scar tissue, the anatomical structure is a mess.” Dr. Jin was by Director Ouyang’s side.

“They’re letting a subordinate attending surgeon take over?” Director Bai grumbled inwardly. They’re biting off more than they can chew!

“They seem a bit too impatient.” Ouyang was always steady, unfazed by the double entendre.

They all sat in the second row, discussions were not easy to carry out. After a few comments, everyone quieted down and continued watching.

The other doctors behind saw the widespread adhesions and felt a sense of fear. Every step the surgeon took in separating the adhesion, their hearts thumped, truly a case of being nervous and tense. This wasn’t a limb, it was the pelvis, it was the pelvic cavity, if mishandled, it could result in death or disability.

Just earlier, the surgeons had been praising the skilled and confident operation, and they were envious that the attending physicians of Fuer Hospital were so good. Now, they retracted their overflowing admiration and started focusing on how the surgery would proceed.

The surgery was forced to proceed slowly.

“One careless moment could harm the blood vessels and nerves.”

“In the past, there was a hospital that had to execute this type of extensive pelvic adhesion surgery. The femoral nerve was misplaced, and the electric knife was too fast, cutting off the femoral nerve. The lawsuit lasted for several years.”

“Yes, there was also a case where a vessel was buried in scar tissue, was cut with one stroke, and retracted. The surgical team couldn’t recover.”

“Yeah, this isn’t something to mess around with.”

“He seems a little scared to continue.”

“If Director Tan took over this surgery, he would have to give his all, right?”

“Director Tan should be on the stage by now, right?”

“Yeah, if he doesn’t go up now, the surgery will be stalled.”

Gossiping is a spectator’s nature!

Everyone was whispering, occasionally looking at the front row, worried that the people in the first row would hear. Everyone knew that Director Tan would be the director of trauma orthopedics in the future. If he heard, it would be the end. Despite the high risk, everyone couldn’t suppress their spectator nature.

“They sent such a young doctor to the stage?” Even though he was wearing a mask, from his eyes, Tan Boyun could roughly guess his age.

Vaguely, Tan Boyun felt the sharpness of the opposing side, and the competition subtly began. He didn’t know much about Director Han’s character, but Tian Yuan, he knew him too well. Respectful on the surface, but capable of gathering a strong killing intent at any time.

Tan Boyun looked sideways, Director Han was smiling pleasantly and rhythmically tapping his fingers on his leg; Tian Yuan also had a smile on his face, but it was a different kind of smile, a smile hiding a knife.

The decision to send such a young attending surgeon to the stage might have been a lack of careful consideration, inadequate judgment. It appeared that Tian Yuan also had insufficient experience with this kind of special pelvic surgery and lacked a deep understanding. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so impulsive. After all, he had over a decade less surgical experience than him.

Director Han trusted Tian Yuan too much, to actually go along with him.

Just watch, he would eventually have to take the stage himself. Just consider it a minor interlude, Tan Boyun thought.

The surgery had, in fact, already stalled.

Dr. Zhong began to make repetitive motions. The scalpel continued its motions, but there was no substantial progress.

He put down the scalpel and began to explore with his fingertips again, his eyes looking upwards, carefully seeking feeling; After a bit of futile exploration, he tried a pair of scissors, but dared not continue, then switched back to the scalpel, gave a couple of superficial, symbolic cuts and began the exploration again, repeating the cycle.

He was always marking time, and that was not a good thing.

Summoning his courage, he carefully cut downwards with the scalpel, blood began to well up, the gauze pressed down, the electric knife cauterization, took a short break.

Let’s aim for a different target, let’s try to separate the femoral nerve. His experience in combat was rich, but the enemy was too strong, the extensive adhesion in the pelvis. Even an expert would break a sweat.

After all, most experience was based on normal anatomy. This kind of widespread adhesion, apart from the blurred levels of division, also had blood vessels and nerves displaced from their usual positions. The blurred anatomy combined with displacement made it possible for any cut to be a nerve or blood vessel.

Even to experienced doctors, it was unfamiliar territory.

He could only continue and wait for backup, he looked up, through the large glass window on the wall, he saw Professor Tan unmoved, still sitting in his original place.

Dr. Zhong’s mood began to fluctuate, feeling anxious and restless, taking deep breaths, reminding himself to stay calm, he lowered his head, and continued.

“Tissue scissors!”

The tissue scissors were handed to him.

“The small ones! Is this your first time assisting at an orthopedic surgery?” Dr. Zhong angrily glared at Su Yixuan, tapping Su Yixuan’s hand with the hemostatic clamp handle. Su Yixuan felt a little aggrieved, her delicate hand hurt from the tapping through the gloves, frightened, she retracted her hand and immediately swapped the scissors for smaller ones.

Gave up on the separation of the external iliac vessels, switched targets, and began to separate the femoral nerve.

It seemed a bit easier to separate the nerve. After a few attempts to stop the bleeding, the femoral nerve was finally isolated in a small section, which boosted Dr. Zhong’s confidence.

One who could locate a nerve amidst such a scar was truly a master, and not someone who attained his position by berating others.

Starting from the exposed part of the nerve and working backwards, if a person could grasp the vine, then they should be able to find the fruit.

However, Dr. Zhong felt puzzled. He had the vine in his hand but could not find the fruit. Where did this section of the nerve originate and where was it going? He was unsure whether to continue deeper or if it was still at this level.

His normally useful knowledge of anatomy was failing him, so Dr. Zhong paused his activities again.

“You two! Can you be more professional? You’re tearing the pelvis in half with your tugging. Use less force.”

Both Song Zimo and Little Five felt like cursing out loud.

“I’ve never performed such a frustrating surgery before,” thought Song Zimo, as he kept his head down in frustration. He tempered his anger with discipline, there was no way he was going to argue here on the operating table.

Little Five looked up and gave a hard stare. If the operating table’s discipline didn’t require him to defer to the chief surgeon, he might have exploded. If this were a game of chess, he would have flipped the table by now.

Indeed, when the chief surgeon is bad-tempered, the assistants and nurses can get quite miserable. This reflects the atmosphere on the operating table.

A chief surgeon with a good attitude can lighten the mood through humour and casual conversation, which makes everyone feel at ease.

Director Han and Tian Yuan were like this, but such chief surgeons were rare.

A chief surgeon with a poor attitude can make it extremely difficult for everyone, cursing and complaining about the assistants when difficulties arise. Intimidating, unforgiving, making everyone feel anxious and uneasy.

There’s a rumor that Tan Boyun at Fuer has a notoriously bad temper. One time during a surgery, surgical instruments were thrown all over the floor, but nobody knows if it’s true or not.

Apparently, there are operating table manners, and even family manners.

“Take a short break!”

“Scalpel!” Dr. Zhong reached out his hand.

Picking up the scalpel to make a few more incisions, he then lightly threw it onto the transfer tray for sharp instruments.

“Change the blade!”

Su Yixuan immediately replaced the blade with a new one.

She handed it to him again.

“Tissue scissors, ophthalmic scissors,” he said in a resigned tone.

Su Yixuan took back the scalpel, quickly prepared the ophthalmic scissors. Normally, ophthalmic scissors aren’t required in this type of surgery.

But there were a pair prepared and individually wrapped on the instrument table below.

“Open the ophthalmic scissors!” Su Yixuan called for the patrolling nurse.

Having seen the events unfold beforehand, the patrolling nurse did not dare delay. She quickly opened the individually wrapped, sterilized ophthalmic scissors. It took less than ten seconds for the ophthalmic scissors to be handed over.

“Could you be a bit quicker? This isn’t a beauty salon, it’s a surgery. Why do I have to request the ophthalmic scissors at the last minute?”

The chief surgeon was not pleased.

Damn! Which hospital prepares ophthalmic scissors for a pelvic surgery? Does Fuer only conduct pelvic surgeries on infants?

Little Five had a bellyful of fire, but discipline did not permit challenges. All he could do was swallow his frustration. If they weren’t on the operating table, he would challenge him to death.

The operating table is a battlefield, and the chief surgeon is the leader. You must obey. No matter how angry you are, you have to wait until the surgery is over to vent your anger. Here, it’s not acceptable. The patient’s life is on the line, so as long as the chief surgeon isn’t wildly slashing around and the surgery is proceeding safely, you have to submit.

Song Zimo glanced at Little Five, who seemed to see the fire raging in his eyes, a flame that seemed palpable through their protective glasses.

People watching through the glass didn’t know what the discussion was about. They only knew that the patient’s vital signs were stable, that there wasn’t any bleeding in the surgical area at the moment, but that the surgery was at a standstill and difficult to proceed.

He began to use the delicate ophthalmic scissors to separate the scars. The scars were tough and hard to cut through, even after several attempts to open and close the scissors, only a little could barely be cut.

He abandoned the ophthalmic scissors and switched back to the scalpel.

“Should we let Senior Brother Yang take over?” someone asked in a soft voice, from the Spine Surgery section.

“We should! He’s amazing!” answered someone from the Joint Surgery section.

“Is he that amazing?” someone from General Surgery managed to squeeze themselves into the crowd. They seemed to have just finished a procedure and wanted to catch some excitement.

Finally, a voice from Trauma Orthopedics spoke up, “Our eldest senior brother is definitely amazing!”

“Isn’t your eldest senior brother Song Zimo?” a man from General Surgery was apparently the last to catch on.

Someone sneered at the man’s late realisation, “The hierarchy has changed. He’s our eldest senior brother now, and Song Zimo is the second senior brother.”

Yang Ping had already finished washing his hands and the automatic door opened as he approached.