342 Arthroscopy (2/2)

However, now that Zhang Pengyi saw how skilled Ling Ran was, he was no longer worried.

Even though the use of skin prickers was only a small maneuver, it required plenty of practice and a deep understanding of the knee joint's anatomical structure on the surgeon's part. The skin pricker could be likened to an extremely large needle. The surgeon had to be able to control the depth at which the skin pricker was inserted while exerting a sufficient amount of force. Repeated attempts would lead to a bad prognosis.

You could more or less grasp a nurse's abilities by looking at how skilled she was when it came to giving injections. A doctor's ability when it came to inserting skin prickers was also a pretty good indicator of his skills when it came to arthroscopy.

Now that Zhang Pengyi was sure that Ling Ran was pretty capable, he was able to work at ease.

After the arthroscope was inserted into the knee joint, the condition within the knee joint was broadcasted live on the 42-inch screen above the operating table. It was much clearer compared with X-ray scans and even MRI scans.

Theoretically, diagnoses made using an arthroscope, especially for damage related to the meniscus and other components, had an accuracy of up to 98%. It was a very high figure when it came to medical diagnoses, especially in the field of western medicine. This was because, western medicine practitioners had to state the exact disease, unlike traditional medicine, where practitioners only needed to point out where the problem was.

Of course, the probability of misdiagnosis was still there. If a doctor was one hundred percent sure of the diagnosis he gave, it did not mean that he was confident. It only meant that he was an arrogant person.

Ling Ran spent a few minutes inspecting the damage in the patient's meniscus before he said, ”I estimate that we can retain around 0.28 inches of his original meniscus…”

Zhang Pengyi was still looking at the screen, and he was not able to respond to Ling Ran because with his experience, he still needed more time to think about the matter before he could make a decision.

Ling Ran did not wait for Zhang Pengyi to respond. Instead, he started to work on the patient's meniscus.

The core aim of meniscoplasty was to restore the damaged meniscus to a normal or near-normal condition.

In the process, parts that bulged out had to be cut off using a pair of basket forceps, while uneven edges had to be evened out. Meanwhile, meniscus tears had to be smoothened. The patient Ling Ran was operating on right then had been opting for traditional treatment options, and he ended up with a seriously torn meniscus.

”The meniscus is already jagged.” Zhang Pengyi finally returned to his senses. He sighed as he gazed at the meniscus on the screen.

The patient could not help but yell out loud, ”Is that a bad thing?”

”It is,” Zhang Pengyi said. ”Because you've been opting for traditional treatment options, your meniscus has undergone plenty of wear and tear. As a result, it's a little harder to treat.”

”My doctor was the one who wanted me to choose traditional treatment options.”

”You didn't go for regular follow-up visits, did you?”

”Haih, everyone knows what's going on with my knee. What's the point of follow-up visits?” Even though the patient, who was lying on the operating table, did not dare to move around, he still wanted to argue with Zhang Pengyi.

Zhang Pengyi decided to stop talking.

Ling Ran finished the whole procedure in one go. He glanced at the clock when he was done, and realized that he only took fifteen minutes.

”Let's go for the next one?” Ling Ran took off his gloves and exited the operating theater.

”How was it?” A group of doctors, including a chief physician, crowded around Zhang Pengyi.

”He's better than me.” Zhang Pengyi chuckled a few times. There was nothing to hide.

”Better than you?” The chief physician repeated what Zhang Pengyi said and nodded slightly.

The hospital had just added arthroscopy to their repertoire, and they needed skilled specialists more than ever.

Since knee arthroscopy was a very effective type of surgery that inflicted very little damage on patients, the demand for it was rising. However, Zhucheng People's Hospital had not trained enough doctors to perform knee arthroscopy.

You Fengyu found an opportunity to have a private conversation with Zuo Cidian, and he asked, ”How much does Doctor Ling charge for each knee arthroscopy he performs?”