The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 431 Do not cut horizontally, cut vertically instead
(Thanks to Yuanqi Yuanmie Yuanziyuan for their generous tip and grateful to good friends Shi Antianxia and Lazy Deer for their monthly tickets of encouragement)
Sometimes, things are just so curious. Before you do something, you might think it’s incredibly difficult and feel torn up inside. But after you’ve done it, you realize it wasn’t such a big deal after all.
That’s how Liu Banxia felt now. The surgery was done, and she’d had a brief video call with Qiaoqiao. The matter was settled.
At lunch in the cafeteria, without any hesitation, she picked a chicken leg. This meal was courtesy of the Chief Director, so she had to eat.
In fact, it wasn’t just Liu Banxia; after a round of discussion among others in the Second Hospital, no one was overly concerned about the matter anymore.
But this was only within the hospital itself. Outside, it had stirred quite a commotion.
Liu Banxia’s casual explanation was that she had merely "herded a few more sheep." But how could it be as simple as just herding a few more sheep? Even with herding sheep, if there are too many, they become difficult to manage, don’t they?
During discussions among the medical staff, their conversations were overheard by inpatients and their families. Keeping patients company could be dull, so they naturally chatted about it.
This caused quite a stir. The popular version of the story that eventually circulated was that the child’s abdomen had been completely emptied, and then everything was meticulously put back in place. Didn’t this mean they had practically dismantled the person into pieces? Were today’s doctors really that capable?
To the average person, transplanting a single organ was already an astounding feat. Now, someone’s entire abdomen had supposedly been emptied. This news was so sensational that people happily spread it further.
By the time Liu Banxia returned to the emergency center after lunch, several groups of people were already gathered, waiting for interviews. These were individual media representatives; official media outlets would typically coordinate with the hospital to schedule interview times.
Liu Banxia frowned and called over a security guard. "Find them a designated area to wait so they don’t obstruct things here. Tell them they need to wait for a unified arrangement from the hospital, and it’s not convenient to accept interviews right now."
The security guard nodded and quickly began to manage the crowd.
But these people weren’t so easily managed. Even if they didn’t know the detailed circumstances, they knew Liu Banxia had been involved in this surgery. Disregarding the security guard’s attempts to stop them, they all rushed towards Liu Banxia.
"I know you all want first-hand information, but we are also in the process of consolidating the details, so we can’t accept any interviews at the moment," Liu Banxia said.
"You’re reporting this to make money, but we also need to earn a living. If we say something wrong and our salaries get deducted, that wouldn’t be good for anyone."
"Please be patient and wait a bit longer. Why don’t you see if anyone around needs help and assist them? What’s the point of lingering here? It’s definitely not going to happen today."
"Dr. Liu, was this surgery very expensive? I heard the child’s family isn’t very well-off. How was the issue of the surgical fees resolved?" one reporter asked.
"Is that what you want to ask? It’s very simple: I don’t know," Liu Banxia said cheerfully.
The reporters, who had been listening intently, suddenly looked at her with expressions of profound disappointment.
Even though they had heard rumors on the grapevine that Liu Banxia from the Second Hospital’s emergency center didn’t care who you were during interviews and would push back if necessary, they hadn’t expected her to be so flippant and even play such little tricks.
Some reporters were very disappointed, having waited for so long in vain. Others, however, had an idea and immediately headed to the registration window. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
Their idea was simple: register for an appointment with Liu Banxia. A colleague had successfully interviewed Liu Banxia this way before.
However, while their idea was clever, reality was harsher. They couldn’t get an appointment; Liu Banxia wasn’t seeing clinic patients.
This was also a consequence of the previous interview incident. Liu Banxia didn’t typically have scheduled clinic hours, so getting an appointment with her now was genuinely difficult, unless it was a direct referral from a friend who could arrange for an added slot.
Liu Banxia’s expression was quite pleased. Still want to play tricks with me? That path has already been sealed off. If they want to hang around, they can, just as long as they don’t get in the way.
She took out her water cup, added a few slices of astragalus and goji berries, filled it with hot water, and set it aside.
This was Qiaoqiao’s order. Qiaoqiao said that drinking this regularly could boost vitality and nourish the liver, and she had to drink it every day.
Liu Banxia didn’t particularly care for it, but she wouldn’t dare disobey. Qiaoqiao had too many informants in the emergency center. Although Xu Yino and Liu Yiqing respectfully called her "Teacher Liu" whenever they saw her, they were also top-notch little spies in their free time.
Seeing that the reporters had finally left, Liu Banxia felt genuinely relieved. Although she could ignore them, their presence was inherently irksome.
Glancing casually towards the waiting area, she noticed a young man in his twenties with a gloomy expression, his head slightly bowed, his hands restlessly rubbing together.
However, she didn’t pay him much mind. Patients in the waiting hall exhibited all sorts of emotions. Anyone who came here at least suspected they had some health issue.
"Teacher Liu, that roundworm patient has passed away," Xu Yino said, running over.
Liu Banxia nodded. "Remind the family that the body must be properly disposed of. Although it sounds inhumane, there’s no other way."
Xu Yino nodded and ran back to the ward upstairs.
In reality, patients passed away in the emergency center every day. To put it bluntly, was there any bed in the hospital that hadn’t seen a death?
The patient intake at the emergency center was currently increasing exponentially. Many of those who came were emergency cases or patients transferred from local hospitals that couldn’t treat them, so the mortality rate had naturally risen as well.
These were things one had to adapt to. The emergency center was developing rapidly, and she needed to grow quickly alongside it.
Perhaps it was also because the Spring Festival was approaching, but the number of patients seeking treatment had somewhat decreased. After all, Binhai City had a large population of migrant workers, most of whom had already returned to their hometowns early.
"President Liu, a female car accident victim will be brought over soon. She was hurled out of the co-driver’s seat and is currently unconscious. Besides a bloody nose and head lacerations, there are no other apparent external injuries," called out the dispatch nurse.
"Get ready to receive her. Standard admission protocol; Huang Bo will be in charge," Liu Banxia said.
Huang Bo nodded, beckoned Miao Rui who was nearby, and also called Liang Xiaolin over.
This was a good team: Liang Xiaolin was from cardiac surgery, and the other two were general surgeons. For an initial patient reception, they were more than adequate.
After a short wait, the patient was brought in by paramedics. Liu Banxia was taken aback; the woman weighed well over two hundred jin. It wasn’t just her size that was concerning, but the fact that patients like this often presented complications during treatment.
"The patient is unconscious, experiencing difficulty breathing, and her pulse is dropping. The nasal bleeding has stopped, and her head wound has been bandaged," the paramedic reported.
"Dr. Liang, check the airway first once we get her into the resuscitation room," Huang Bo instructed.
As the supervising attending physician and Chief Resident, Liu Banxia followed them in.
"Alright, everyone, get a good grip! One, two, three, lift!" Huang Bo called out.
Although it took some effort, with everyone working together, they managed to lift the patient onto the examination bed.
"Connect the monitor. Initial trauma assessment," Huang Bo directed.
As the attending physician in charge of this patient, he was responsible for auscultation. Liang Xiaolin checked the airway, while Miao Rui examined for other injuries. The three of them worked together methodically, and Liu Banxia watched with satisfaction.
"Blood oxygen at 87," the nurse announced after connecting the monitor.
"Lung sounds are normal. Dr. Liang, intubate," Huang Bo said.
This task was most suited for Liang Xiaolin. Previously, under Liu Banxia’s strict drilling, she had practiced intubation diligently and had become so skilled she was even known as a ’little intubation expert’.
She expertly tore open an intubation kit and began the procedure.
"The patient’s neck is too thick; I can’t see the vocal cords at all," Liang Xiaolin reported.
"Blood oxygen is still dropping, 84 now!" the nurse called out.
"The patient is showing signs of cyanosis!" Miao Rui added.
"Cricothyroidotomy," Huang Bo declared after assessing the patient.
Liu Banxia furrowed her eyebrows slightly, but Huang Bo’s current judgment wasn’t wrong. If non-invasive intubation failed again, it could threaten the patient’s life, especially since she was already showing signs of cyanosis due to oxygen deprivation.
"Hold on! Don’t make a horizontal incision; switch to a vertical one!" Liu Banxia called out just as Huang Bo, after sterilizing the area, was about to make the cut.
Huang Bo paused for a moment but then adjusted the direction of his scalpel, changing from a horizontal to a vertical approach.
Although the standard procedure for a cricothyroidotomy involved a horizontal incision, Liu Banxia had given an order, and he would execute it without question. At such a moment, there was no time for deliberation; hesitation would waste precious time. Trust was the best course of action.
As the scalpel made the incision, Huang Bo broke out in a cold sweat. He finally understood why Liu Banxia had insisted on a vertical cut.
Because the patient was obese with a very thick neck, a horizontal incision would have made it extremely difficult to locate the cricoid cartilage. One consequence would be wasting more time; another, potentially more dire, would be severing the patient’s blood vessels.
Either of these outcomes could have jeopardized the patient’s life and would have left an undesirable mark on his professional record.
After widening the incision, Huang Bo inserted the tracheostomy tube and slowly withdrew the obturator.
"Oxygen levels are rising! 87, 92, 95, 99, 100!" the nurse counted happily.
"Teacher Liu, thank you," Huang Bo said.
Liu Banxia shook her head. "Continue with the treatment."
Huang Bo nodded and quickly resumed examining the patient.
The subsequent steps were relatively straightforward. After the initial assessment, the patient was sent for a cranial CT scan.
Currently, no other injuries or fractures were visible. The main concern now was to check for any intracranial hemorrhage or edema.
"You all need to be more careful in the future. For every emergency case, the surgical approach we choose must consider the patient’s specific condition," Liu Banxia said.
"The patient had a thick neck and was female, making it difficult to judge the location. However, since this was your first time encountering such a patient, I can let it slide this once."
"Liang Xiaolin, you too. For a patient like this, I personally think you should have considered pediatric intubation for the first attempt. Again, because the patient’s neck was somewhat thick, there might have been other underlying pathologies. Otherwise, our ’little intubation expert’ wouldn’t have been stumped today."
The three of them nodded in unison. This was experience, and it was precisely what they currently lacked.
