My Medical Skills Give Me Experience Points-Chapter 1218 - 481: Earning a Wave of Orthopedic Experience Points, Level 6 Incision Skill
After opening the chest incision, the remaining sternum was visibly discolored from infection.
As osteomyelitis progresses, the bone ultimately undergoes necrosis.
The incidence of this disease is extremely low.
Blood-borne osteomyelitis is particularly rare and is considered a very difficult-to-treat condition in the field of orthopedics.
Post-operative infection of the sternum is a common cause of this disease.
After Zhou Can completely resected the sternum and debrided the area, he took one rib from each side to reconstruct the chest wall.
This means placing two ribs horizontally across the thorax.
[Bone Fracture Reconnection Skill Experience Points +1, Bonus Bone Fracture Reconnection Skill Experience Points +100.]
Gaining a hundred experience points for performing such a difficult bone fracture reconnection isn’t considered much.
However, compared to earning just 1 point each time from bone fracture reconnection, this is already a rocket-like improvement speed.
Currently, his bone fracture reconnection skill is still at Level 4, equivalent to attending physician level.
If he wants to be promoted to Vice Director, he still needs to work harder.
The main issue is that during usual surgeries, there are very few orthopedic patients. The difficult ones he can’t handle, and the easy ones don’t earn much experience points.
There’s no shortcut, he can only accumulate bit by bit for a major breakthrough later.
For almost all surgical skills, Level 4 and Level 5 is an important watershed. Before reaching Level 5, it’s a slow grind.
Basically, all surgeons endure it out the same way, bit by bit.
Reaching Level 5, or the level of Vice Chief Surgeon, is considered as having emerged successfully. At this point, one can participate in various major surgeries and have the ability to attempt completing some difficult orthopedic surgery parts.
Although orthopedics usually deals with just a few bones, it’s known as the most lucrative surgery department, its significance is self-evident.
Even if just getting good at hand surgery, one can do very well.
In fact, excelling in any field like hand surgery, foot surgery, joint surgery, spinal surgery, orthopedic trauma surgery in orthopedics can make you an in-demand orthopedic specialist at major hospitals.
Income and status would both be very impressive.
In China, due to the long history of traditional Chinese medicine, ancient medical and martial arts weren’t really separate. Especially with injuries like bruises, internal injuries, and external wounds closely related to martial artists.
Usually, common people fell ill, but martial artists often engaged in combat, making injuries a common occurrence.
When hands or feet were broken, or ribs were fractured, it all required traditional Chinese medicine treatment.
Therefore, treating bone injuries with traditional Chinese medicine remained unique and outstanding even in today’s dominant western medicine era.
Where is the best place for orthopedics and repositioning?
It must be traditional Chinese medicine!
Sprains and fractures still require traditional Chinese medicine.
The most common method in western medicine for treating fractures is inserting metal pins. Placing a splint can require over ten or even twenty pins. Not only is it incredibly costly, but it also leaves the patient’s bone full of holes.
Of course, nowadays, whether in traditional Chinese or western medicine, a good doctor is one who can restore the patient’s health.
Western medicine is not completely without merit in the field of orthopedics.
In correcting deformities, traction in traditional Chinese medicine has some effectiveness, but it falls far behind that of western medicine.
For example, in more severe cases of scoliosis, traditional Chinese medicine has virtually no solution. Western medicine can directly perform surgery, remove one or two spinal segments, complemented by necessary exercises, ultimately allowing the patient to stand straight like a normal person.
Beyond that, treating bone cancer is also within the realm of western medicine.
After Zhou Can completed the sternum reconstruction for this patient, he swiftly began freeing the pectoralis major muscle flaps on both sides.
What for?
To fill these muscle flaps into the area absent of sternum, then bring the two sides of the pectoralis major together and suture to achieve soft tissue reconstruction.
After completing all this, he placed a drain at the chest wall incision, sutured the cavity closed, and finally concluded the surgery.
Zhou Can let out a long breath of relief.
Performing this surgery provided him with considerable medical skill experience points. Beyond bone fracture reconnection, he also gained experience points in incision, suturing, hemostasis, and anastomosis.
Whether it was the resection of the sternum or the use of muscle flaps to fill the absence of pectoral tissue, these are absolute technical tasks.
The benefit to his personal surgical growth is immense.
"All right, as long as we strengthen antibiotic treatment post-operation, the patient should recover quickly. If another infection occurs, it would be tricky, almost unsolvable."
What Zhou Can added afterward was a reminder to Director Xue Yan to ensure proper post-operative care for the patient.
Recurrent patients, every operation opportunity is precious and limited.
Opening the chest significantly harms the patient.
Now with the sternum completely removed and two ribs taken to rebuild the chest wall, essentially exhausting the patient’s last bit of ’assets’. If another infection arises, it truly is a dead end with a high chance of mortality.
If this patient is cured, it holds great promotional significance.
Director Xue Yan certainly understands the importance of this.
The second surgery was for a lung cancer patient.
This individual underwent a lobectomy three months ago, at Fangxin Tumor Hospital.
This time, it’s a post-surgery recurrence, accompanied by distant metastasis through the bloodstream.
The currently identified metastatic sites are the lung hilum and mediastinal lymph nodes.
Such extensive metastasis makes it challenging to resolve through surgery. Truth be told, performing another surgery holds little practical value.
Still, the patient is in their prime of life, with a wife, children, and parents, all deeply yearning for treatment. They are willing to exhaust their family’s resources and fight for every chance.
Deeply moved by the family’s strong desire for treatment, Vice Director Hee finally decided to take on this surgery.
