Rebirth of a Doctor Without Regrets

Chapter 104 One-Second Re-jump

Zhu Chunhua walked quickly to the ultrasound machine, bent down and stared at the screen, her fingertip lightly tapping on the messy images on the screen.

On the screen, the calcified area showed a strong echo signal, surrounded by a large area of ​​blurry sound and shadow.

The acoustic image was a thick, impenetrable fog, making it difficult to clearly distinguish the specific depth of infiltration of the calcified lesions.

"Xiao, I'm not sure," Zhu Chunhua said, straightening up. "The calcification is indeed very severe, but the deep structures of the valve orifice are not clearly visible. In this case, estimating the depth based on experience may result in a large error."

Li Lei's doubts deepened.

Even Deputy Director Zhu couldn't be sure, so how could Wang Xiao, a resident physician, accurately determine the area of ​​calcification and the depth of resection based solely on ultrasound images?

"Listen to me, I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong." Wang Xiao felt guilty and knew that if he continued to argue, he might be exposed.

As the lead surgeon, Wang Xiao's decision determined the direction of the operation.

Of course, he didn't just do whatever the surgeon said, but his words could be said to have directly gambled his career.

Doctors who haven't registered for a license should never say things like "I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong."

Even though everyone was skeptical, they could only suppress their doubts and follow Wang Xiao's instructions.

Seeing the hesitant looks on everyone's faces, Wang Xiao turned to Li Lei, who was standing in the corner: "Brother Lei, come and lend a hand. The artificial valve reconstruction will be faster with two people working together."

Reconstructing the valve essentially involves suturing a ring-shaped structure using pericardial tissue. This can be done using a head-to-head suturing method, requiring two people to operate.

Li Lei looked puzzled. He had only come to observe and never expected that Wang Xiao would invite him to participate in the core operations.

Fortunately, he had subconsciously swiped his hands before entering the operating room, and he quickly nodded, "Okay, okay."

He strode to the sterile worktable that was being set up, waiting for the reconstruction work to begin.

Wang Xiao glanced at the worktable and then said to the nurses below, "The worktable is too small for two people, which will affect the speed of operation. Let's add another worktable and put them together."

The nurses in the audience rushed out of the room.

"Prepare to open the chest." Wang Xiao picked up the scalpel again.

He had already clearly sketched out the distribution of adhesions between the sternum and pericardium in his mind, and he even remembered the specific locations of the calcifications.

After all, he's a seasoned cheater and can skillfully maximize the system's value.

The chest opener slowly pried open the chest cavity, and Wang Xiao began to precisely loosen each adhesion, avoiding the small artery branches entangled in the adhesions.

Zhu Chunhua assisted in exposing the surgical field, Li Wei quickly prepared the pericardial tissue, and Li Lei cut the pericardial slices.

Everyone in the operating room was doing their job.

In just thirty minutes, the adhesions between the sternum and the pericardium were completely released, and the pericardium was fully exposed.

This time, Wang Xiao did not rush to establish extracorporeal circulation, but instead helped Li Wei collect pericardial tissue samples.

It is important to distinguish the key steps in the surgery.

The key factor limiting the success of this surgery is the speed at which the artificial valve can be reconstructed ex vivo.

After the collection was completed, Wang Xiao inserted the tube and gave the order to start the extracorporeal circulation machine.

As the heart gradually stopped beating, Wang Xiao was already adept at the subsequent resection procedures.

Another twenty minutes passed, and the original artificial leaflet was removed.

However, Wang Xiao's attention was half on the sterile worktable next to her.

Li Wei and Li Lei worked together, with Li Wei responsible for collecting the pericardial tissue samples and Li Lei responsible for cutting the pericardial tissue into neat pieces.

Afterwards, the pericardial film was fixed between the No. 23 and No. 26 artificial valve annulus, resulting in much less slippage and a more uniform thickness of the reconstructed material.

"What a brilliant idea!" they both thought of simultaneously.

Even when sandwiched between two valve rings, the pericardial film is still difficult to control.

Wang Xiao's ability to improve upon his proposed technique variations in such a short time demonstrates his exceptional innovativeness.

The vast majority of doctors in China cannot do this.

After all, we were all raised with cramming and motivational education, and discipline and obedience have become internalized as instincts.

This isn't without its advantages, but the cost is a loss of creativity.

Creativity, however, is the core competency needed to transcend social classes.

Following Wang Xiao's instructions, the two used a head-to-head sewing method, starting from the same point and finally meeting in the middle.

With a spacious worktable, the two of them found it very comfortable to operate.

Soon, a neat artificial valve opening was reconstructed in the middle of the artificial valve ring.

At this time, Wang Xiao was still removing the calcifications from the original valve opening.

The rhythms of both sides have been synchronized.

Wang Xiao felt relieved and focused on cleaning the calcified area and removing the flap.

Li Wei did not relax at all and immediately began suturing the No. 23 artificial flap at the opening of the artificial flap.

After the valve removal was completed, Li Wei also finished suturing the artificial valve.

The surgery had been going on for less than two hours, and it was already at the final stage.

It seemed there was great hope. Wang Xiao took the artificial valve from Li Wei and inserted it into the patient's heart.

It fits perfectly and is the right size.

As the last stitch was completed, Zhu Chunhua raised the syringe that had been prepared beforehand.

"Water injection test, hmm? It's a little damp?" Wang Xiao probed with his index finger and determined that there was a leak.

"It should be the final joint on the valve opening," Li Lei said.

While head-to-head sewing doubles the efficiency, leakage often occurs at the joint where the two sewers meet, which is the most common problem with this method.

Wang Xiao cut the knot and added a stitch at the joint.

After filling with water again, it passed.

The moment to witness a miracle had arrived again, and Wang Xiao ordered the withdrawal of extracorporeal circulation.

One second — in just one second, my heart started beating.

This indicates a low level of oxygen deficiency in the heart.

Everyone was amazed; the heart was beating so quickly, a rare sight even on the cardiac surgery table.

"Close your chest," Wang Xiao ordered.

Li Wei consciously prepared to start working.

As an attending physician, she belongs to the category of those with strong research capabilities but relatively weak operational skills.

These past few days have witnessed Wang Xiao's abilities, so I'm happy to do some cleanup work for him.

Wang Xiao did not give up her seat, but instead pointed to a resident doctor in the crowd of observers: "You come here."

This is the junior resident doctor who gave up the public computer for Wang Xiao last night.

"Me?" He couldn't believe it and hurriedly ran to the front of the stage.

Although all the observing resident physicians were swiping their hands and wearing surgical gowns, everyone knew that the opportunity was extremely rare.

Seeing that a deputy director and two attending physicians were all at Wang Xiao's beck and call, the resident doctors felt as if they were observing the director performing surgery.

The young man was sweating profusely as he closed his chest, trembling with nervousness. Several times he was about to make a mistake, but Li Wei tapped his hand with hemostats and stopped him.

Li Lei wanted to say something to ask Wang Xiao to personally close the chest, after all, this was Shen Hao's maternal grandfather.

But Shen Hao wouldn't let him reveal his identity, and Li Lei couldn't think of a reason. He watched helplessly as his future was used as a training exercise by the resident doctor.

【Ding! 】

The surgery was successful.

[Current number of surgeries completed: 700]

The surgery lasted two hours and twenty minutes, including one and a half hours of cardiopulmonary bypass.

Wang Xiao's variation of this technique is remarkably efficient.