Chapter 149: I Mentioned It!
In the emergency operating room, in front of the sink.
Zeng Huanqi lowered his voice: “Lu Cheng, the surgical permissions for tendon suturing in orthopedics have been completely revoked by the Medical Affairs Department.”
Lu Cheng was taken aback and turned his head: “Just because of what happened yesterday? It can’t be that serious, can it?”
“That wasn’t the first time!” Zeng Huanqi implied.
“The patient with the tendon injury in our department had surgery personally performed by Professor Tong, but was transferred to our department for postoperative rehabilitation.”
“I later asked people in the operating room, and they said it wasn’t the first time Peng Kun had acted on his own initiative.”
“Several times, he only called Professor Tong after doing a halfway decent job, and the patient’s tendon outside also tore, so healing and recovery were quite slow.”
Is he obsessed with learning surgery? So reckless?
Lu Cheng washed his hands carefully, saying no more.
If you don’t court death, you won’t die. Lu Cheng was powerless to complain, nor did he have the inclination to kick someone when they were down.
But after thinking for a while, Lu Cheng added: “Brother Zeng, when Tian Zhuang and Han Xiaoping start performing tendon suturing, if you are on duty, please be sure to watch closely.”
“Absolutely do not repeat the same mistakes.”
Zeng Huanqi chuckled: “Tian Zhuang and Han Xiaoping are much more honest than Peng Kun; they will absolutely not forcefully perform surgery.”
It was only recently that Zeng Huanqi truly understood why tendon suturing had been picked up and put down by orthopedics so many times; it was indeed full of pitfalls.
Yet, it was precisely this type of disease that Lu Cheng had navigated step by step.
The difficulty of traversing these paths can be imagined…
At that time, Lu Cheng was truly playing with his life, truly living on the edge of a knife.
Fortunately, both he and Zhang Tiesheng were clever enough to “give way” in time after seeing Lu Cheng’s talent.
“Xiao Lu, when we learn spleen preservation surgery and gallbladder preservation surgery, you need to teach us meticulously too! If something goes wrong, we might not even have a chance to fix it,” Zeng Huanqi said with a serious expression.
Lu Cheng made a joke in response: “Brother Zeng, I hope you don’t feel like I’m deliberately targeting you then.”
Zeng Huanqi puffed out his chest: “That’s impossible, Xiao Lu, you’re definitely not that kind of person.”
Lu Cheng kicked open the airtight door of the operating room, and the two entered one after another, beginning to disinfect and drape the patient together…
After Lu Cheng finished two extremely standard surgeries.
He immediately went to the surgery department’s observation ward to conduct rounds.
The Elder Sister in bed 5 was also within Lu Cheng’s inspection range. Although her skin had already been sutured, her recovery progress indicated that her condition no longer fell under the category of “tendon injury”!~
“Doctor Lu, am I doing okay?” The Elder Sister smiled sincerely. For her, being able to have this condition treated in the county and save a large sum of money was good news.
Lu Cheng nodded and encouraged her: “You’re still recovering very well… Sister, everyone’s recovery situation is different, and their physical condition varies.”
“It’s okay if your recovery is a little slower, take your time, we’re not in a hurry.”
“As the saying goes, you can’t eat hot tofu in a hurry. We will definitely proceed step by step, okay? Are you still in pain now?”
The Elder Sister shook her head: “It doesn’t hurt much anymore. I don’t feel anything when I’m not exercising.”
“Then is it numb…”
“Does your stomach feel uncomfortable?” Lu Cheng began his nagging mode again.
Zeng Huanqi, following Lu Cheng, just shook his head.
A doctor like Lu Cheng, patients love him, but doctors would be exhausted. What is this, a full physical examination and inquiry…
Zeng Huanqi slipped away directly. He really couldn’t learn this.
…
【 Current Skill Point Balance: 16.3! 】
It was 13.1 before the surgery, two surgeries yielded 2.8 points, and an hour of nagging earned 0.4 points, equivalent to one-seventh of a surgery. It’s also like mosquito meat, okay?
Lu Cheng returned home, and it was still early, not yet twelve o’clock.
Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu agreed on the specific time for breakfast the next day and then went to wash up…
Long County, Zhuangyuanfu Residential Area.
Tong Yuan’an was in a group video call, his plump face serious, emphasizing loudly: “I mentioned it!”
“Director Tan, Master, I mentioned it to all of you!!”
“You were the ones who said it wasn’t necessary?”
The other people in the video instantly fell silent…
There were four people in the video call: Director Tan Zhongyuan of Hand Surgery, Tong Yuan’an’s mentor Old Professor Zhou Yunhui, and Deputy Chief Physician Han Yunshen.
Tong Yuan’an’s plump face pouted, his expression serious, and his voice, tinged with grievance, he explained again: “Director Tan, Master, my permissions only allowed me to report it!”
Old Professor Zhou Yunhui rubbed his white hair, trying to open his right eye to make both eyes appear roughly the same size, his voice slightly hoarse:
“Director Tan, Tong Yuan’an did recommend Lu Cheng to me, and I believe he must have also spoken to you privately, Director Tan.”
“At the time, based on his only having clinical talent and no research foundation, having not even touched research, I didn’t take it seriously.”
“There are many people in our department who can learn surgery, and learn surgery quickly. Take Yun Shen, for example… besides functional reconstruction surgery, what other surgeries in hand surgery can’t he perform?”
Zhou Yunhui gave an example.
Associate Professor Han Yunshen was younger, thirty-three years old this year, and was already an Associate Senior. His surgical scope was extremely broad, even broader than that of a seasoned Associate Professor like Tong Yuan’an.
However, Tong Yuan’an’s depth of proficiency in his single specialization was at a higher level than Han Yunshen’s.
Tan Zhongyuan’s stern, square face was contorted, his thick eyebrows raised and nose slightly wrinkled. Though he should have appeared quite refined, his face looked somewhat distorted:
“Being able to quickly learn several techniques and to improve one’s own technique is completely different matters.”
“You say this Lu Cheng, how is it that after attending Xiehe Hospital’s advanced study class, he was able to gain something?”
“Is Xiehe Hospital’s advanced study class too incredible? Or have we misjudged this person?”
It was not enough to make Tan Zhongyuan pay attention that Lu Cheng could learn to improve the Tang method, or learn the ‘tong’ method or the Tajima suturing technique.
But that Lu Cheng could develop his own ‘Lu’ method based on these suturing techniques, and that the treatment could surpass the aforementioned suturing techniques, this was clearly and severely beyond the scope.
A new tendon suturing technique, while not extremely innovative, can lead to many things.
For example, by applying this suturing technique to tendon transposition surgery, could more function be restored to the patient?
Would the overall treatment level of functional reconstruction surgery in hand surgery be improved by the introduction of a new tendon suturing technique?
These are all realistic and subtle things that can be slowly experienced and tested in clinical practice.
It’s not difficult to ‘think’ of a suturing technique; anyone can randomly imagine, but for a suturing technique to be conceived and then surpass other suturing techniques is almost impossible.
Tong Yuan’an said: “Director Tan, I also mentioned to you before, when I first came to Long County, Professor Xie Xiao of Xiehe Hospital Hand Surgery called me and asked me to look after Lu Cheng a bit.”
“Do you think it’s possible that Lu Cheng and Professor Xie Xiao knew each other before… and Professor Xie Xiao found it inconvenient to come to Long County to mentor Lu Cheng…”
“Did Professor Xie contact you?”
Tong Yuan’an glanced at Tan Zhongyuan after speaking, implying he was asking if Professor Xie Xiao had privately contacted him.
Tan Zhongyuan said: “The changes in our hospital’s counterpart support units are internal hospital matters and have nothing to do with colleagues from other hospitals.”
“Professor Xie from Xiehe Hospital also did not contact me.”
“You proposing to go to Long County for counterpart support was your own initiative; I didn’t require you to go.”
Tan Zhongyuan then steered the conversation back: “Tong Yuan’an, is the only thing you can confirm now that Lu Cheng has secured a unit?”
Tong Yuan’an nodded and explained: “Although I don’t know what Old Professor Zhong of Xiehe Hospital promised Lu Cheng, I suspect that if I heard it, I might not be able to resist the temptation either.”
“I think it’s fine. The main one who feels very uncomfortable now is Chen Song.”
“Why do you bring up Chen Song again? What does Chen Song have to do with this matter at all?” Director Tan Zhongyuan did not know Chen Song, so he frowned impatiently and interjected.
Tong Yuan’an quickly covered his mouth with his plump hand.
Zhou Yunhui said: “Director Tan, let’s drop this matter. Xiehe Hospital has already sent someone to follow the entire research project.”
“We are now just a collaborative unit; let’s not think about anything else.”
“At least it has now been confirmed that the time we invested earlier was meaningful.”
Zhou Yunhui thought very frankly; things had already happened, and regretting them now was meaningless.
Tan Zhongyuan said: “Director Zhou, human effort matters!”
“At this juncture, talent is the most important thing. Talent needs competition to enter good units, and units want to attract talent through competition.”
“Waiting for a rabbit is not advisable.”
Zhou Yunhui sighed lightly and waved his hand: “I’m old, I can’t argue anymore.”
Professor Zhou Yunhui clearly did not want to get involved in these matters.
Tan Zhongyuan said: “That’s alright, Director Zhou. I learned about seven or eight parts of your arguing skills from back then, and I think it’s enough to handle most situations.”
“Let’s see if I can find an opportunity to poach Xiao Lu.”
Zhou Yunhui’s expression remained unchanged; he clearly did not support nor reject such actions.
Tan Zhongyuan then probed for an opening: “Tong Yuan’an, do you know who the person from Xiehe Hospital who is primarily in charge of the project’s theory is, accompanying Lu Cheng?”
Tong Yuan’an secretly glanced at Tan Zhongyuan and said: “It is said to be Lu Cheng’s girlfriend, and she seems to be from Xiehe Hospital’s Gastroenterology Department Laboratory or something.”
Tan Zhongyuan: “…”
Some things that Tong Yuan’an and others could figure out, directors like Tan Zhongyuan, who had held significant personnel authority, and old directors could naturally understand.
This possibility was now gone.
“Then you just focus on the research project… don’t think too much about other things… you won’t be able to figure it out,” Tan Zhongyuan unilaterally ended the topic, saying politely;
“Teacher Zhou, you should rest now too. I apologize for disturbing you for so long.”
Zhou Yunhui nodded gently and hung up the phone himself; he had already resigned from his directorship, and he didn’t necessarily need to participate in such video conferences.
The reason Old Professor Zhou participated in the video conference today was mainly because of the suturing technique developed by Xiangya Hospital, in which Old Professor Zhou had also participated…
“Director Tan, Xiao Han, I’ll hang up now too!” Tong Yuan’an replied.
After Tong Yuan’an’s video also went dark, Tan Zhongyuan’s thick eyebrows furrowed deeply: “Han Yunshen, your luck isn’t very good, is it?”
“That fat guy Tong’s luck is simply too good!”
Tong Yuan’an was currently the strongest Associate Professor in the ward, but in fact, Han Yunshen was not bad either, just a few years younger than Tong Yuan’an.
A difference of only a few years in age is not insurmountable. After all, Han Yunshen has a lot of research accumulation.
If he could complete a few more research projects with significant clinical significance, he could overtake them and take over the ward director position from Tong Yuan’an.
With this turn of events, Han Yunshen could only slowly accumulate seniority, likely having to wait until Tong Yuan’an’s term was over before the position could be transferred to him.
This would not be a matter of a few years, but at least eight to ten years.
Han Yunshen said: “Master, opportunity is also a part of strength. More often, opportunity outweighs personal effort and accumulated strength.”
“If the materials Tong Yuan’an sent us are not fake, then he has truly struck it rich this time.”
“Tong Yuan’an is standing in the eye of the opportunity storm; how can I compare with him?” Han Yunshen’s tone was bitter.
He was thinking at this moment, if he had gone to Long County for the rural assignment, would the opportunity have been his?
Tan Zhongyuan stroked his eyebrows: “Xiehe Hospital has already sent people; do you think it could be fake?”
“Professor Zhong Junyun would accompany him, Lu Cheng, in acting? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“According to the materials, this suturing technique is not only applicable to flexor tendon suturing but also to most extensor tendon suturing.”
“This makes it scalable. It’s possible that in the next few years, many people will learn this technique to save study time.”
“This is something many people want… but cannot achieve…”
“Back then, Professor Tang Jinbo became popular in hand surgery because of the Tang method. If this technique improvement this time can lead to a higher success rate for flexor tendon surgeries in District Two.”
“The name ‘no-man’s-land flexor tendon’ could even be completely abandoned,” Tan Zhongyuan explained the potential significance of the technique.
In reality, many clinical limitations are clear to anyone in the profession.
Understanding the limitations and breaking them are two different things.
Regarding tendon suturing alone, the current sticking point is that the efficacy of tendon suturing in many areas is not precise enough, and there are too many techniques, making them chaotic and difficult to learn.
One can easily fall into a trap if not careful.
“A unified technique, establishing a standard treatment plan for a specific disease type, Master, this alone has great practical clinical significance!”
“What do I need to accomplish to continue to contend with Professor Tong?” When a problem arises, it must be solved.
Han Yunshen could not simply compete for the director position for the sake of it, but he also had to think of solutions and strive for healthy competition, which was also a form of hope.
“That’s not insignificant. If you can further refine functional reconstruction surgery and independently develop a surgical procedure, it would be more clinically significant than improving a tendon suturing technique,” Tan Zhongyuan said with a half-smile.
Han Yunshen’s mouth twitched, his muscles trembled, and his voice was strange: “Master… perhaps I should just wait for you to be promoted to Academician and pull me up.”
“Scram… joking with me now?” Tan Zhongyuan’s thick eyebrows knitted as he started to scold.
