The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 652: Dispute due to delayed bleeding

"Don't rush. Let me have a quiet moment."

Liu Banxia said, rubbing his face after another long stare at the CT scan.

Earlier, while concentrating, he thought he'd grasped a fleeting idea, but it vanished when he tried to focus on it.

He presumed his recent plethora of concerns had prevented him from focusing completely.

"Teacher Liu, please go to room 302 immediately! The patient's family is highly agitated."

At this moment, a distraught Doctor Jiang Yuanyi from neurosurgery hurriedly rushed towards him.

"What's going on?" Liu Banxia asked while walking.

"A patient has dural edema. We operated yesterday. Today, after waking, the patient became easily agitated. Teacher Zhang suspects delayed bleeding, but the family doesn't understand," Jiang Yuanyi quickly explained.

Liu Banxia felt a headache coming on. Explaining such a thing to the patient's family was not at all an easy task.

However, this wasn't the time to dwell on such challenges; the shouting from the patient's room was already audible.

"Everyone, please calm down! I'm the director of the Emergency Center. If you have any concerns, please address them to me," Liu Banxia boomed, reaching the doorway of the patient's room.

"You're the director? Good timing! Your hospital made our family member worse, and now you want to operate again? What are you thinking?" the patient's wife questioned him, staring at Liu Banxia.

"I got some understanding of the situation on my way here," Liu Banxia responded.

"When the human head suffers an impact, signs of bleeding might not appear immediately; delayed bleeding can occur."

"This isn't an attempt to defend our doctors; it's common medical knowledge. I wouldn't try to fool you. You can film everything; we won't interfere."

"Whenever a problem occurs, you claim it's a medical issue! How are we, as ordinary people, to know you didn't injure his brain during surgery?" the patient's wife continued to question, her agitation still evident.

"I understand how you feel. For now, I hope you can release our doctor. We can resolve all issues, and if our hospital is at fault, we will take responsibility," Liu Banxia replied.

"As you're surrounding our doctor, I hope you're recording this. When you upload it online later, please don't selectively edit the footage."

"I need to ask: are you focused on investigating our hospital's responsibility, or on treating the patient? To be blunt, pursuing medical malpractice requires legal proceedings."

"Even if you detain all of us here, it won't solve the current problem, will it? What we need to do now is perform the latest scans on the patient to see if there are new bleeding points. Correct?"

"You have all the previous films. Once the new ones are ready, we can compare them to clearly identify the issue."

With that said, Liu Banxia calmly faced the agitated family members and gave Zhang Xiao a reassuring glance.

Truthfully, Liu Banxia wasn't entirely confident himself. Without a detailed examination, he couldn't determine the exact cause.

It could be a complication from the craniotomy or a new bleeding point. He leaned towards the latter.

The patient had been admitted for subdural edema. For a neurosurgeon, this wasn't a particularly high-risk surgery and typically wouldn't cause brain damage.

If it were a subdural hematoma with active bleeding points, the aspiration and ligation process could potentially affect brain tissue.

But nothing was absolute. Even a routine craniotomy could cause some degree of brain injury due to pressure from the edematous area.

However, in the current situation, the priority was to de-escalate things and get the patient the latest scans.

Many people were recording with their phones. The video might be online before the examination was even finished.

Perhaps it was his status as the director, or perhaps his composed demeanor, but after a brief hesitation, the family members finally released Zhang Xiao.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Our objective now is aligned: to perform an MRI scan on the patient's brain to check for new bleeding points," Liu Banxia said seriously.

"As I just said, if our hospital is at fault, we will not shirk our responsibility. We live in an age of information; you can research 'delayed bleeding' online yourselves."

"At the same time, I urge those recording to avoid selectively editing the video when uploading it. Please do not try to sway public opinion to favor either our hospital or the patient."

"Spreading rumors is illegal. You have the right to upload videos. However, if we find instances of false or misleading information being spread, we will take legal action against the uploader."

"The doctor-patient relationship is already very strained. Let's not exacerbate the situation. Our utmost priority now is the patient's treatment."

"Everyone, please make way. We need to take the patient for scans. Jiang Yuanyi, arrange an emergency MRI, book an operating room, and tell Doctor Xiao to prepare for surgery."

"How does that sound? We must first determine the patient's actual condition. If there truly is delayed bleeding, it will be life-threatening."

The patient's wife nodded. "Don't think you can fool us. Before the surgery, you said it wasn't serious, and now look what you've done to him."

"Then let's proceed with the scans. I'll accompany you throughout, so you don't think I'm trying to flee or make other arrangements. And don't worry about me altering the medical records; they can't be changed, as there are backups in the system," Liu Banxia said.

This time, the patient's wife said nothing. She was still deeply worried about the patient. So, she followed them out for the MRI.

"Dr. Zhang, go downstairs and rest for a bit. We'll talk after the scans are done," Liu Banxia continued.

Zhang Xiao nodded. "My assessment should be correct. The patient injured both the left and right sides of his head when he fell."

"Alright, leave it to me," Liu Banxia said.

He also leaned towards Zhang Xiao's assessment, but the test results would be definitive. His greatest concern was surgical complications. If that happened, it would indeed be very troublesome.

This was a common type of medical dispute. Even when potential complications were thoroughly explained before surgery, and the patient had consented and signed the forms, if complications arose, the family would often still suspect surgical error.

Such possibilities couldn't be entirely ruled out, which made these situations incredibly complex and difficult to handle.

"Teacher Liu, the films aren't developed yet, but the scan is complete. There's a hematoma on the right side of the brain."

After a while, Jiang Yuanyi ran out to inform them.

"Are you trying to fool us with someone else's films?" the patient's wife asked cautiously.

Liu Banxia smiled bitterly and shook his head. "That would be a grave offense; we wouldn't dare. Even in cases of medical malpractice, we accept full responsibility and provide compensation. If we intentionally switched films and performed a craniotomy on someone who didn't need it, that would be a criminal offense."

"Rest assured, you have the other films as well. You can have them verified by a relevant medical institution. This cannot be faked."

"So, we have an issue. A hematoma has been detected. Do you want to wait for the developed films before deciding on surgery, or do you trust us to proceed directly to the operating room now?"

"The surgical risks are similar to yesterday's operation. If you choose to wait, our doctors can explain everything again from the beginning. If you want us to proceed with emergency surgery now, you'll need to sign the consent form."

Hearing his words, the patient's relatives became hesitant.

Even though Liu Banxia spoke sincerely, the thought that 'the surgery had harmed him' lingered in their minds.

It was understandable. They weren't doctors, just ordinary people lacking extensive medical knowledge. They focused on the outcome, not the process.

The family deliberated for over five minutes before finally deciding to proceed with the surgery immediately.

They had been thoroughly briefed on the dangers of edema yesterday, so they naturally understood the dire consequences a hematoma could lead to.

Liu Banxia felt a wave of relief. The situation was unlikely to escalate further. Once they had a chance to search online, they would understand that while delayed bleeding wasn't highly probable, it was a known possibility.

"Brother Zhang, how are you?"

Upon returning downstairs, Liu Banxia found Zhang Xiao.

Zhang Xiao gave a wry smile and waved his hand. "I'm fine. They didn't hit me, just grabbed my clothes. It must be due to this hematoma. Yesterday's surgery went very smoothly."

"In the future, when you encounter situations like this, if things look bad, retreat," Liu Banxia said.

"My dear President Liu, how could I have possibly retreated? If I had backed down then, a fight would have undoubtedly broken out," Zhang Xiao replied with a bitter smile.

"This kind of situation isn't very common, so it's difficult for the patient's family to understand. But that's part of being a neurosurgeon; we have to accept these risks."

Liu Banxia patted him on the shoulder. "It's alright. I'll treat you to chicken drumsticks at dinner. I think the family was just extremely anxious. Otherwise, things wouldn't have calmed down so quickly when I arrived."

"Well, I should be the one thanking you, shouldn't I? You rescued me, after all. Shouldn't I be treating you to chicken drumsticks?" Zhang Xiao asked back.

"Haha, either way is fine. Alright, no slacking off now. Get back to work. I still have a surgical plan I haven't figured out yet, and it's weighing on my mind too," Liu Banxia said and then walked out.

Zhang Xiao had been a doctor for many years; he didn't need Liu Banxia's comforting. That would have been superfluous.