Chapter 302 - Success and Failure Separated by a Hair’s Breadth (Part 2 of 4) (1/2)

The viewers digressed further and further, like it was a self-defense mechanism against anxiety.

In the operating room, upon encountering an accident, a surgeon would either take out their anger on their equipment or remain silent.

In the live surgery broadcasting room, they did not throw their tools and lash out at their a.s.sistants as they were not the ones operating. It was more relaxing to observe than to perform.

The host surgeon had failed at another attempt, but the viewers could not blame it on the surgeon and thus resorted to telling jokes for fun.

In the operating console room, Professor Rudolf Wagner stared at the images with piercing eyes.

He found it hard to believe that this was Zheng Ren’s first TIPS surgery.

The man was so proficient! Were it not for the patient’s sudden hematemesis, the third puncture would have succeeded.

Zheng Ren’s talents were so exceptional they were borderline enviable, Professor Rudolf Wagner thought.

Su Yun felt sorry, but was not surprised.

He had already overlooked the fact that Zheng Ren’s first TIPS surgery had been exceedingly skilled.

Something that happened so often would lose its novelty. Were Su Yun to be surprised every single time, his jaw would have fallen off by now.

He was numb to it, subconsciously expecting such performance.

Perhaps it was the same frustration that others once felt when they looked at him.

“Emergency surgeries are all like this, just be patient,” Su Yun comforted him calmly.

“Sure.” Zheng Ren nodded, nonchalantly pus.h.i.+ng aside the mote of regret in his heart before adjusting and repositioning the guide wire to prepare for another puncture.

He observed the venogram carefully and noticed that the wire was not very far from the location, possibly not having moved much at all.

Maybe Su Yun’s hand had followed the motion of the patient vomiting. There was no other explanation.

Such a perfect a.s.sistant. At least to Zheng Ren, Su Yun was indeed flawless.

“Move forward 0.5 cm, 25 degrees to the right… 23 degrees,” Zheng Ren estimated.

Soon, the guide wire was back in position.

The experience he had gained from surgery on the simulation mannequin in the System’s operating room had been tempered on the anvil of reality, and it felt transcendental.

This had to be it. Although Zheng Ren had failed again, he was never more confident.

He did not comfort the patient or tell the patient to stop moving.

This was not the emergency treatment room. The patient was not throwing a tantrum.

The rupture of the gastric varices resulted in a large amount of blood acc.u.mulated in one’s stomach. It was an involuntary biological response, uncontrollable by the individual.

Like a burp or a fever, no one could decide if it came or went.

He had to use this short window of recovery between the patient’s intermittent vomiting to operate quickly.

The patient had rapid, shallow breathing, but no signs of agitation.

Zheng Ren pushed the b.u.t.ton.

From imaging, the dark shadow of the angiographic needle advanced through the hepatic portal and reached the branch of the portal vein.

Su Yun barely managed to suppress his shout. “It went in!”

“Hold it.” Zheng Ren was not in a hurry. He was stable and determined like a ballast, keeping their boat afloat to conquer the raging waves and reach the sh.o.r.e of victory.

“Yes,” Su Yun responded.

A successful puncture was just one of the key steps. Any mistakes after this would cause the surgery to fail, requiring the whole process to be repeated.

Everything had to be carried out cautiously, as if walking on thin ice.

[d.a.m.n… success on the fourth attempt! Awesome!]

[The third puncture could’ve been the one.]

[This surgeon has once again exceeded my expectations. From what I remember, our hospital has performed over dozens of TIPS surgeries and their average duration exceeds 4 hours with about 20 puncture attempts.]

Xinglin Garden was joyous. Even the physicians who had expected failure were relieved.

They did not want the surgery to fail, no matter if it was overseas or not.

There were not many bullet comments left. Although the most crucial step was done, the subsequent procedure was also very important—deployment of the stent graft.

There were two different views on the choice of stents.

An uncovered stent had the advantage of stability. Its metal mesh formed a cylindrical structure that could be anch.o.r.ed by the hepatic parenchyma cells, creating strong friction that prevented it from dislodging post-surgery.

However, the robust regeneration of the liver was a complicating factor.

After a year or more, the stent and thus the tract created from the TIPS surgery could become blocked by the regenerated liver.

On the other hand, a stent graft could prevent the risk regenerated cells blocking the tract, but required more skill to secure in place due to the lack of friction between the stent and parenchyma cells.

It all depended on how the surgeon would employ it.

After repeated experimentation in the System’s operating room and thorough literary research, Zheng Ren had chosen to use a stent graft.

He was certain that he could secure it in the channel made by the angiographic needle.

Professor Rudolf Wagner remained silent in the operating console room.

This could not be Zheng Ren’s first TIPS surgery! If one could demonstrate such competency in their first attempt, how could TIPS surgery be referred to as the crown jewel?

He had performed this procedure so many times and understood its difficulty intimately, which was why he was flabbergasted.

How many times had he been berated when learning TIPS? How many failures had he encountered? How thrilling had his very first success been?

The professor’s mind was consumed by a series of flashbacks.