192 Spoon-feeding Skills in the Medical World (1/2)

The Yiyuan County inpatient building was surrounded by a dozen small flower beds. It was spring, and even Ling Ran felt relaxed as he stared at the colorful plants around him.

Both sides of the inpatient building were surrounded by big trees, which were decades old. Most of them had been planted there since the founding of the country. From the distance, many trees appeared three-stories tall, and their leaves were very dense.

At a corner of the building was a small basketball court. Patients in hospital gowns sat at the stands of the court while the basketball players in the court consisted of young people who looked like students.

Kong Xiangming tried to be friendly with Ling Ran. He started the conversation by introducing their hospital. ”Our hospital used to offer Diploma in Medicine, but later it turned into a normal school. This basketball court was built during that time. Our hospital still welcomes students to play basketball over here. This basketball court was closed for some time in the past, but the people were very vocal about it so we decided to reopen the court. Our Inpatient Department even installed a new water dispenser for the kids to drink whenever they come to play basketball.”

It was only then that Ling Ran noticed a water dispenser with a few water tanks at the corner of the basketball court.

Wang Haiyang nodded slowly. ”The hospital's full of Yin energy. Everyone will feel comfortable in the presence of some hot-blooded and energetic boys.”

His Feng Shui explanation made Ling Ran laugh. This also triggered everyone to converse with each other, and they all started to chat as well as laugh together.

The wards of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery were located on the fourth floor of the inpatient building.

Once the doctors walked out of the escalator, they hid their smiles. Wang Haiyang stood in front of the group as the leader, and Kong Xiangming guided them into a single room to meet the patient and his family.

Wang Haiyang had heard about the patient before. He put on a stern look, and he looked dignified. He no longer appeared friendly.

When the patient and his family saw him, they did not say a word. They, too, became solemn.

It was especially so for the patient who had his wound dressed. He did not want to speak, but he still sat up to listen to their conversation.

It was Kong Xiangming who spoke first. ”Mister and Missus Cha, let me make one thing clear; it's something I've told you before. Chief Physician Wang's team rushed all the way here from Yun Hua. They didn't even have a proper lunch because they hoped to reach here as soon as possible. Now, they're here to help, so please be patient with us. Please allow us to spend some time on the preoperative diagnosis, analysis, and research. If we can have sufficient preparation, we'll be able to increase efficiency.”

He had seen too many patients who were impatient. He was worried that the patient would get angry with them, so he added, ”Under normal circumstances, if you bring the patient to Yun Hua Hospital or to the provincial hospital, it would be very troublesome and costly. Now, we've brought the experts here, and it has lessened your troubles in terms of seeking medical help. It also saves time. However, we can't just save time for the sake of saving time and cut out the necessary preparations. We need to have a proper discussion. Therefore, don't be impatient. Let's get straight down to business, okay?”

The patient and his family nodded after they listened to Kong Xiangming.

In a doctor-patient relationship, patients were always the weaker party, especially patients who were waiting to be treated. For them, regardless of how the informed consent form was written, they still needed to sign it in the end.

Of course, things would be different after the surgery.

Once Kong Xiangming finished explaining matters, Wang Haiyang said, ”I read Mister Cha's MRI scans. From a doctor's perspective, the success rate of his finger replantation is quite high. But I have to tell you this, even if your finger replantation ends up a success, the finger will not function as good as it used to. The finger's functionality will be limited…”

Wang Haiyang then mentioned some of the sequelae, including postoperative pain, cold intolerance, and other problems.

The patient and his family began to grow more nervous.

Once Wang Haiyang finished most of what he wanted to say, Kong Xiangming came forward and said, ”We invited Chief Physician Wang over because we hope that the surgery will be performed better with fewer complications. Hmm… how should I say this? We have to hope for the best and seek for the best results, but we also have to prepare for the worst since there are risks in the surgery. It is especially so in finger replantation surgeries. The risks are quite high…”

Kong Xiangming looked at Wang Haiyang after he was done with what he needed to say. Once he received his confirmation, he announced the start of the surgery.

The patient was pushed towards the operating theater, while Wang Haiyang and Ling Ran followed Kong Xiangming to change their clothes. Once they were done, the doctors from the Department of Orthopedics Surgery in Yiyuan County Hospital changed into their scrubs as well; they were ready to learn from the surgery.

While they were alone, Wang Haiyang told Ling Ran, ”We'll be less at ease when we perform surgeries as freelance surgeons compared to when we operate in our own hospital. We have to employ surgical plans with lower risk and try our best to conduct the surgery better.”

”I understand.” Ling Ran did not have any experience as a freelance surgeon. Naturally, he would just follow Wang Haiyang's commands.

The so-called low risk plan referred to the reconnection of multiple blood vessels at the beginning of the finger replantation surgery. The core of finger replantation was blood circulation. If blood circulation could be ensured, the replanted finger would have a chance to survive. Blood was the main supply of energy for the muscles. Without the supply of blood, the muscles would definitely suffer from necrosis.

However, reconnecting multiple blood vessels also meant that the surgeon had to either extend surgery time or save time by cutting down on other aspects. Replantation for a single finger was much easier in this regard, but for multi-finger replantation surgery, the surgeon would also have to consider the time taken to reconnect the other fingers.

However, for Wang Haiyang and Ling Ran, no matter how they decided to reconnect the fingers, it would not pose too much of a problem for them. The selection of a plan basically depended on their preferences and the possibilities of what could happen during surgery. If they did not talk about their skills, luck would then play a major factor in the surgeon's decision on what plan to use for the surgery.