The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 435 Two gunshot wounds

The hospital had already set the tone for the publicity surrounding this operation, so Liu Banxia didn’t need to worry about it.

During his rounds that night, he checked on the old lady with the thyroid cyst again; indeed, she was all alone. What else could be done? Just leave the call button by her side. If she feels unwell, she should press it immediately.

This was a patient who required extra attention, even though the elderly woman was recovering well. Given her age, elderly postoperative patients always needed careful monitoring.

Having had a solid few hours of sleep, Liu Banxia felt quite satisfied. After all, for someone in his line of work, getting an uninterrupted stretch of sleep was better than anything.

"Everyone, keep your spirits up! Yesterday’s surgery is long behind us. Today is a new day, and more patients will be coming in." After breakfast, Liu Banxia, having rushed back to the emergency center, clapped his hands to boost everyone’s morale.

However, even with his encouragement, it wasn’t as passionate as the morning exercises performed by employees in front of many stores. This job was truly exhausting; it could wear out any passion one had.

"President Liu, why didn’t you accept the interview?" Wang Chao sidled up to him.

"You’re incredibly well-informed. I just spoke with the director about this yesterday, and you already know today," Liu Banxia said, genuinely impressed.

"Hehe, I heard my mom mention it during dinner last night. After all, yesterday’s operation caused quite a stir. Other hospitals wouldn’t have been able to handle it," Wang Chao said with a smile.

"Have you heard the other news?" Liu Banxia asked, a grin playing on his lips.

"What news?" Wang Chao immediately became cautious.

"Going forward, our Second Hospital will prioritize staffing the emergency center. The CCU is just the first step; other arrangements will follow. So, you need to take this seriously and improve your surgical skills as quickly as possible," Liu Banxia said.

"Currently, you can handle routine surgeries like cholecystitis and appendicitis without issue. However, your intestinal perforation repairs could be faster, and your skills with gastric perforations also need strengthening."

"Qi Wentai also lacks experience in intestinal surgeries. I’ll do my best to allocate resources fairly among you. But sometimes, perfect fairness isn’t possible; I’m a human, not a computer."

Wang Chao nodded vigorously. "Don’t worry, I’m on it."

"How’s the recent publicity work going?" Liu Banxia asked.

"It’s going pretty well. We’re doing all the promotion indoors at the community health clinics, so no need to go out and brave the elements," Wang Chao said with a smile.

"Good, keep focusing on that. By the way, do you have any thoughts on your future career path?" Liu Banxia asked abruptly.

"Uh... Chief, you’re like family. If you have something on your mind, just ask me directly, okay?" Wang Chao asked.

"It’s nothing major. I just think we should all plan ahead. Plus, your family situation is a bit unusual, so you really need to consider your future carefully," Liu Banxia said.

"You can either commit to frontline work or move to a second-line role. Our emergency center will inevitably continue to be upgraded, and there will be more specialized sections and departments in the future. We’ll also need to establish related administrative departments."

Wang Chao grimaced. "Can I think about it? I haven’t really given it much thought."

Liu Banxia nodded with a smile.

He still needed to look out for those who deserved it. Besides, Wang Chao wasn’t incapable; he just sometimes didn’t apply himself to thinking things through more seriously. A little nudge should be enough. They’re all smart people; no need to spell everything out.

"President Liu, bad news! A police officer was injured in the line of duty. Gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. The ambulance is rushing him over now. His vital signs are very poor!" Just then, the dispatch nurse ran over.

"Shot? I’ll take the lead on this. Dr. Wei, Wang Chao, with me. Call Chen Xuehai from Cardiac Surgery. Everyone, disposable surgical gowns now! Notify the OR to prepare, and clear the path in advance. Get three units of O-positive blood ready. Rapid blood test and cross-matching as soon as he arrives!" Liu Banxia shouted.

He’d been at Second Hospital for quite some time but had never encountered a patient with gunshot wounds.

Gun control in the country was quite strict; firearms weren’t easily obtainable like in some other countries. Only police officers and armed police likely faced a higher risk of such injuries, as they confronted dangerous and desperate criminals.

After nearly ten minutes of waiting, the wail of police sirens and the blare of the ambulance alarm merged as they approached.

"Two gunshot wounds, chest and abdomen. Blood pressure 70/90 mmHg, heart rate 130. Oxygen and IV fluids were administered in the ambulance. Vital signs unstable, patient is unconscious," the paramedic reported.

"Trauma Room One!" Liu Banxia yelled, then started running, pushing the gurney.

The patient’s condition is really dangerous. His heart might even be injured. There’s a large, dark patch spreading across his chest.

"One, two, three, lift! Connect the monitor, establish an IV line. Rapid blood test, start blood transfusion and IV fluids!" Liu Banxia instructed.

"Blood oxygen 90%."

"One hundred milligrams of succinylcholine, twenty milligrams of etomidate. Liang Xiaolin, intubate!" Liu Banxia ordered.

"No exit wounds on the back. The bullets should still be in the body," Wei Yuan said.

"Fluid in the abdominal cavity. Confirmed internal bleeding," Shi Lei reported.

"No breath sounds in the left lung. Insert a chest tube!" Chen Xuehai also shouted.

Everyone was scrambling. The patient’s blood pressure was low, his blood oxygen was dropping, he was struggling to breathe, and two bullets were still lodged inside him. Even taking an X-ray depended on stabilizing his vital signs first.

After emergency resuscitation, the patient’s vital signs finally showed some improvement. Although his blood pressure was still low, his blood oxygen level had risen.

"Get an X-ray, then straight to the OR," Liu Banxia instructed.

Everyone stepped back to a safe distance.

"Why do I only see one bullet?" Liu Banxia asked, frowning at the X-ray.

"It’s possible one is obscured by the ribs. We can see one near the liver. The other might be near the heart; it seems to have punctured the lung," Chen Xuehai stated.

"Sister Wang, please speak with this officer’s superiors and family. We need to get him to the operating room immediately. He has liver and lung injuries, possibly heart damage as well, and severe internal bleeding. Get his basic information," Liu Banxia directed.

With that, he pulled the gurney, and the team rushed towards the elevator.

Time was critical. The patient’s current stability was only due to the blood and fluid replacement and assisted breathing. It was temporary; no one knew how much damage the two bullets had caused internally.

"Dr. Chen, Liang Xiaolin, the heart and lungs are your responsibility," Liu Banxia told them.

"Brother Wei, once we open the abdomen, you’ll handle the liver damage. I’ll find the source of the bleeding. He’s lost a lot of blood; it’s definitely going to be tense once we’re in."

Wei Yuan nodded. "If the liver damage isn’t too severe, I can manage. If it’s serious, I can only perform basic hemostasis. I wouldn’t dare risk more."

"It’s alright. I’ll focus on keeping him alive; you focus on treating the injuries," Liu Banxia said seriously.

Wei Yuan paused for a moment. "Okay."

He knew Liu Banxia was giving him a chance. He’d performed partial hepatectomies before. But the extent of this patient’s liver damage wasn’t clear, and he wasn’t sure if repair would suffice or if a partial hepatectomy was needed. That’s why he lacked confidence.

"The patient has no history of heart disease, hypertension, or diabetes!" Wang Lei called out as they pushed into the operating room.

"That’s some good news, at least. Are the blood test results out?" Liu Banxia asked.

Wang Lei nodded vigorously.

It was some measure of reassurance. Liu Banxia and his team quickly rushed out to scrub in again.

"We’ll proceed as discussed in the elevator. Wang Chao, you’ll assist Brother Wei and me, fill in any gaps," Liu Banxia instructed.

Wang Chao nodded.

"Dr. Chen, any issues with the heart and lungs?" Liu Banxia asked again.

"As long as the heart damage isn’t extensive, we should be fine," Chen Xuehai replied.

"Good. Our chances of success just got a bit better," Liu Banxia said.

Returning to the operating room, Wang Lei had already administered anesthesia.

Standing by the operating table, Liu Banxia and Chen Xuehai shouted their orders simultaneously.

Liu Banxia: "Wang Chao, open the abdomen!"

Chen Xuehai: "Liang Xiaolin, open the chest!"

"Suction!"

The moment the patient’s abdominal cavity was opened, blood gushed out.

"He’s lucky. The bullet didn’t cause extensive damage to the liver. Suturing should be enough," Wei Yuan reported.

"The colon has two damaged sites, and the mesenteric artery is bleeding. The damaged sections can’t be repaired; they require resection. First, ligate the mesenteric artery. Wang Chao, you’ll perform the colon resection," Liu Banxia also stated.

This was also a chance for Wang Chao. Given the patient’s current condition, whether he did the liver suturing and colon resection himself, or handed them over to Wei Yuan and Wang Chao, the outcome would be the same.

It was no different from their usual surgeries. The only distinction was that this was an emergency operation, arriving suddenly, which could make some people nervous.

Having worked in the emergency center for so long, the current situation was still clear to them, so handling it was relatively straightforward.

"The second bullet is near the heart. There’s a bleeding point on the heart, requiring sutures. The left lung is damaged; perform an alveolar resection," Chen Xuehai’s team reported, slightly behind the abdominal team.

After all, opening the chest was different from opening the abdomen. The abdomen could be opened with a quick incision, but the chest required a chest retractor.

This was a combined thoracoabdominal surgery, using a conventional open approach. For now, their minds were somewhat at ease; the bullets hadn’t ricocheted wildly within the body.

Often, penetrating wounds were ironically the easiest to treat because the trajectory was direct. If a bullet truly spun or deflected inside the body, saving the patient would have been far more challenging.

"Brother Wei, is the liver still bleeding?" Liu Banxia asked after ligating the mesenteric artery.

"I’ve finished ligating the vessels on my end as well. Why is there still so much blood in the abdominal cavity? Is it draining from the thoracic cavity?" Wei Yuan asked, glancing over.

"That shouldn’t be it," Chen Xuehai said. "We performed quick ligation on our end too. The bleeding point on the heart was small, only requiring a few stitches, and Linlin has performed alveolar resections twice before."

Liu Banxia frowned deeply. There’s still an unknown bleeding point.