Chapter 117 - Major Accident (1/2)

“He’s experienced.” The professor’s praise made Old Chief Physician Pan incredibly happy.

He s.h.i.+elded Zheng Ren from people’s anger but showed humility at the professor’s compliments.

Zheng Ren was like his own son. The boy was very talented and deserving.

“The superselection was well-done,” Professor Pei said a few minutes later, impressed.

The guide wire moved from the hepatic to the branching artery. The path got narrower as Zheng Ren maneuvered deeper into the network of vessels, each branch requiring him to enter a new vessel. The process was extremely difficult.

Manager Feng’s face was tense as he watched the surgery.

This was the first challenge in his field and he had used a lot of resources to bring Professor Pei from Sorcery Capital to ensure the surgery was flawless.

As luck would have it, they had gotten into an accident right outside the hospital gates and now, Professor Pei was not fit to perform surgery.

Although Professor Pei had not suffered any major injuries, Manager Feng expected the surgery to be called off, leaving him to pack his bags and leave Sea City with nothing to show for it.

‘A roaring start that ends with a whimper,’ Manager Feng had thought as he despaired about his career.

An unexpected blessing had come in the form of a young chief resident from the emergency department.

Manager Feng’s worries had been quelled by Professor Pei’s a.s.sent to a guided surgery.

Five minutes pa.s.sed and the superselection was done. The guide wire was maneuvered through the femoral artery and into the 4th-grade vessel that was 1cm away from the tumor.

The guide catheter made its entrance, followed by the guide wire, which was established for the catheter—a thick and flexible tube—to follow its path to the tumor.

Zheng Ren’s technique was delicate, accurate and flawless in execution.

Professor Pei watched the screen, rapt. Although he said nothing, his look of admiration was evident.

He expected this level of performance from himself, but did not expect to find another surgeon with similar skills in this small city. Clearly, there was hidden talent to be uncovered.

When the catheter reached the tumor site, Su Yun switched off the imaging system. He waved to the control room while his other hand held onto the guide wire and catheter.

Xie Yiren took the cue and went through the heavy lead door. It was time for drug administration.

The chemotherapy drugs had to be prepared on the spot as there was the possibility of a prolonged or failed superselection.

Hepatocellular carcinoma was unlike other forms of cancer with first-line and second-line chemotherapy. For many years, surgical excision of the tumor was the only effective treatment.

In the last decade, the rise of interventional radiology-a.s.sisted techniques and the development of targeted medicine such as sorafenib gave hepatocellular carcinoma patients a better chance.

Through clinical studies, doctors realized a combination of chemotherapy drugs and the embolization of the artery supplying nutrients to the tumor produced the best results.

Chemotherapy drugs were known as ‘poisons’ as their efficacy lay in their cytotoxicity. During surgery, the drug would be delivered to the tumor before the artery was embolized, effectively steeping the tumor in poison. After the artery was embolized, there would be no more nutrients supplied to the tumor.

It was a successful two-p.r.o.nged strategy.

Xie Yiren was quick with her hands. The drugs were prepared and loaded into the pressure injector. She gave Zheng Ren an encouraging fist pump before closing the heavy lead door behind her.

After the drugs were administered, Zheng Ren performed the iodized oil embolization of the artery.

Once the process was complete, he started up the imaging system.

This step was akin to the saline rinse of normal surgeries. It allowed the surgeon to check for mistakes.

Professor Pei was in a relaxed mood. Jovially, he said, “I had thought that I would need to step up to perform the superselection, but your subordinate managed it admirably.”

“Oh, you’re being too kind,” Old Chief Physician Pan said with a wide smile.

The image was transmitted to the control room screen.