Chapter 136: Fishing In Troubled Waters!
About forty minutes later, Lu Cheng began to suture the superficial palmar arch.
At this moment, he glanced at Tong Yuan’an, who was standing at the far end of the operating table in a sterile surgical gown, and did not greet him.
Tong Yuan’an was called over temporarily by Luo Changwu. He was still performing surgery in another operating room and only came this time to observe whether Lu Cheng’s basic skills were up to par for vascular suturing.
If he was capable, he would stay; if not, he would leave, letting Lu Cheng stop his operation and wait for him to finish.
Lu Cheng was not an extreme perfectionist. He knew that there was still a certain gap between his vascular suturing technique and Tong Yuan’an’s, but it was definitely sufficient for this patient.
His current basic skills in suturing were definitely among the best of his peers. However, at Xiehe Hospital, Pan Leiming, the chief resident, was even worse than him, and their abilities were still about fifty-fifty.
There were geniuses in this world, and not just in this generation or at this age, there were exceptionally talented individuals.
Tong Yuan’an was only older, not stripped of his genius halo. In fact, he was the top genius of his generation, and his skills had advanced far ahead.
The reason Lu Cheng was able to overtake Tong Yuan’an on a curve in tendon suturing was that Tong Yuan’an was not primarily focused on tendon suturing but was dedicating his energy to more difficult surgeries.
Tong Yuan’an watched for only a minute, then silently turned and backed away, crossing his arms and stepping away from the airtight operating room door.
Luo Changwu heard the door open and did not say anything more to pressure him.
If Tong Yuan’an felt Lu Cheng’s ability was insufficient, he would have said it directly; there was no need for social graces with Lu Cheng; he could have even cursed him.
Since Tong Yuan’an did not speak, it proved that Lu Cheng’s ability had reached the required standard. In such a situation, Tong Yuan’an did not want to waste two more seconds to praise Lu Cheng.
Silent acknowledgment was enough.
Luo Changwu also knew how to do vascular suturing; it was just simple interrupted suturing.
In fact, if an ordinary person were taught suturing for two to three hours, they would learn how to do it, just to stitch it up.
But to achieve a nearly 100% patency rate after suturing?
To achieve such a level of skill with less than several thousand, or even ten thousand, meters of suture material was simply unthinkable.
The suturing of the superficial palmar arch did not take long, less than five minutes. Lu Cheng put down his instruments and said, “Ouyang Meng, release the vascular clamp.”
Ouyang Meng complied.
The vessel was instantly refilled and blood flow was restored.
Visibly, the localized pallor caused by clamping the superficial palmar arch began to ooze blood, changing from chalky white to a moist red.
Then the moist red gradually dissipated, returning to a normal skin tone.
“Syringe needle!” Lu Cheng asked the circulating nurse for the instrument.
Luo Changwu understood Lu Cheng’s intention and watched as Lu Cheng pricked the patient’s finger.
A drop of bright red blood was slowly squeezed out, proving that the distal end of the patient’s finger had regained blood supply and the vascular anastomosis was successful.
There was no need to worry about vitality anymore. As for how well the remaining function would recover, it would depend on the specific rehabilitation after the operation.
However, this person’s recovery might not be very good, because after they completed the simple surgery, they would be taken away…
Intentional assault and affray would definitely result in imprisonment. What good was rapid postoperative recovery? It was enough to have been treated and not bled…
Luo Changwu felt a bit emotional. It was a waste to use such techniques on them. In the past, there were so many honest and decent patients who, due to less skilled techniques, had poor postoperative recovery and returned home with lifelong functional limitations.
If only Lu Cheng could have mastered these techniques earlier?
“Xiao Lu, your ability is very strong, truly impressive.” Luo Changwu gave Lu Cheng a thumbs-up.
He was primarily responsible for spine surgery, which was mostly elective. Therefore, no matter how excellent Lu Cheng was in the Emergency Department, it did not affect his surgical volume or patient count. He remained the Deputy Chief Physician of the department and a deputy director for two orthopedic districts.
One reason was, of course, that his uncle worked in the provincial government. Another, even more significant reason, was the skills he now possessed, of which only three people in the entire Orthopedics Department were capable.
Peng Haibo, Director Liu of the second district, and himself, Luo Changwu.
“Director Luo flatters me. There are some other suturing operations that will be troublesome for you, Director Luo. I need to check on a few other operating rooms,” Lu Cheng said.
Although Luo Changwu was not eccentric in his personality, he was not particularly enthusiastic either. In the past, when Lu Cheng was in charge of the beds for spine surgeries, Lu Cheng was merely a retractor and a sewer.
Lu Cheng took off his gown and left without lingering, nor was he as polite as he used to be in the Orthopedics Department. He didn’t even spare any pleasantries.
Luo Changwu watched Lu Cheng’s receding back, his emotions becoming quite complex. If he wanted to contend for the director position, he would need to cultivate his own confidants. Lu Cheng was a promising prospect.
Compared to Lu Cheng, although Tian Hongjian was also a Deputy Chief Physician, he lacked talent and ability. However, this possibility, as he envisioned it, was no longer feasible…
The patients in Operating Room 2 were mostly suffering from muscle damage and superficial wounds. The only tendon injury could be handled by Peng Kun, so Lu Cheng called Peng Kun.
Upon receiving the call, Peng Kun immediately stated that he could come over from Room 4 to perform the surgery.
“Brother Zhang, I’ll go to Room 4 to take a look.”
“When Young Master Kun arrives, please don’t make things difficult for him; there’s no need,” Lu Cheng instructed.
Zhang Tiesheng chuckled and replied, “Xiao Lu, what are you saying? What is there to make difficult? We are all brothers; joking around is fine.”
Zhang Tiesheng was not afraid of Peng Haibo, nor was he afraid of Young Master Kun. He certainly wouldn’t intentionally harm Peng Kun by using a patient. However, if Peng Kun was not sufficiently proficient in some areas, he would naturally find it easy to tease and mock Peng Kun.
If Peng Kun’s cognition was comprehensive enough, these issues wouldn’t arise. But if his own cognition was insufficient, as an older brother, wouldn’t it be normal to offer guidance?
If it were anyone else, Zhang Tiesheng wouldn’t even bother.
After Lu Cheng exited Room 2, he walked towards the Emergency Operating Room 4, passing Peng Kun on the way…
Peng Kun said solicitously, “Brother Lu, the situation in Room 4 is a bit troublesome… I’m sorry to trouble you… Tian Hongjian is there.”
“Okay, no problem, I’ll go take a look at the situation.” Lu Cheng then confirmed that Tian Hongjian and Peng Kun were both handling the situation in Room 4.
By the time Lu Cheng washed his hands, put on a sterile surgical gown, and donned sterile gloves, arriving at the operating table in Room 4, Tian Hongjian was sitting there with a nearly expressionless face.
Lu Cheng looked at the operating table for five seconds, his face darkened, and he shouted, “Who authorized Peng Kun to perform flexor tendon suturing in District Two? Was it Professor Tong?”
“TM, it’s messed up like this, and he’s gone?”
Tian Hongjian shushed him and said, “Xiao Lu, we’re all brothers; we see each other around often.”
“Peng Kun has wanted to do flexor tendon suturing in District Two for a long time. He really couldn’t wait. He’s only sutured three stitches so far!”
Lu Cheng interrupted Tian Hongjian, “The tendon was torn during the knotting process!”
“What we have now is tendon revision surgery!” Lu Cheng stood up directly and began to remove his gown. “I can’t do it, and I can’t take over!”
“Have someone call Professor Tong to come directly and perform the revision!”
Tian Hongjian’s expression turned serious. “Lu Cheng, there’s no need to make the atmosphere like this, is there?”
“Peng Kun only sutured it once.”
Lu Cheng scoffed, “Brother Jian, do you think tendon suturing is like manual reduction? If it’s not successful once, there’s a second chance?”
“This is now called tendon revision surgery. If I, Lu Cheng, can perform tendon revision surgery but refuse to do it just to target Peng Kun, then I’m your grandson!”
“Brother Jian, you make the call yourself.” Lu Cheng took off his sterile surgical gown without a second thought. Before exiting the operating room, he deliberately took a photo of the surgical field with his mobile phone.
Lu Cheng was not afraid of them falsely accusing him of ruining it, but he also wanted to have proof for himself.
Tian Hongjian stood by the operating table for a moment. After Lu Cheng left, he said to the anesthesiologist Du Yuanyun, “Xiao Yun, please help me open my mobile phone.”
