Healing Doctor

Chapter 298 The Slippery Director Bai

Director Bai didn't speak, and no one else dared to ask; everyone knew what was going on.

In terms of presence, Director Bai is more than ten times more imposing than Dean Zhao. Even Dean Zhao's son, Zhao Tianjiao, instinctively shuts his mouth when he sees Director Bai, not daring to utter a single unnecessary word.

Deng Chaohong didn't wash his hands or change his clothes; instead, he waited quietly.

Nobody knows what they're waiting for.

The ventilator was running erratically, and the electrocardiogram monitor occasionally beeped, which was quite irritating.

"Director Bai, I'm here!"

The operating room door opened, and Zhao Xiangming, the director of the interventional radiology department, strode in.

"Let's try the interventional procedure first," Director Bai said calmly. "Let's see if the surgery can be done."

"Director Bai, let me tell you first, it's too difficult." Zhao Xiangming complained first, "The transverse lumbar artery is just like its name, it's horizontal, and its four branches are almost 90 degrees. The COBRA flexible catheter is too thick, it may not be able to go in."

"Give it a try. I'll give you two hours, or a little longer if you want." Director Bai looked up at the time.

Zhao Xiangming nodded; he seemed quite relaxed.

After all, it's much smoother to communicate with a seasoned clinician like Director Bai, and it's much more comfortable than communicating with Dean Sun, who doesn't understand clinical practice.

At least Director Bai has a good reputation, so I don't have to worry about being targeted by spies.

"Change the surgical procedure?" the anesthesiologist groaned.

"Thank you for your hard work." Director Bai reached out and patted the anesthesiologist on the shoulder.

"It's not hard work." The anesthesiologist didn't dare to question Director Bai, and he went to prepare things dejectedly.

"Old Li, what exactly happened?" The circulating nurse followed the anesthesiologist out and asked in a low voice.

"Director Bai is so slippery," the anesthesiologist said listlessly. "Last time when the orthopedics department performed a vertebral body resection, I heard that in Beijing, they always embolize the transverse lumbar artery before performing this type of surgery, which reduces the amount of bleeding significantly."

"Oh? Isn't that great? It's the best of both worlds," said the circulating nurse.

"A win-win situation? Why didn't you do it before? Didn't you hear Director Zhao say that it might not succeed? He said it might not, but in reality, it's 99% unlikely to succeed."

"Then why do we need to do it?" the nurse asked, puzzled.

"We'll first perform an interventional procedure over two hours. Ideally, we can embolize the transverse lumbar artery. If that doesn't work, we'll have to see what the next step is."

If the blood bank really had blood on hand, it should have arrived by now. If they're just lying, I reckon Director Bai will stubbornly refuse to have the surgery.

The circulating nurse's eyes lit up.

After Director Bai's intervention, the Second Affiliated Hospital is now in the right, and the situation of a patient who has already undergone surgery and is bleeding heavily will no longer be unmanageable and helpless.

As for the troubles and messes that follow, that's a matter for later. We can't let someone die on the operating table.

"Wow, Director Bai is awesome!" the circulating nurse exclaimed after figuring out Director Bai's plan.

"Indeed impressive. If you ask me, Director Bai is the real talent."

"Old Li, isn't this a good thing? Why are you looking so gloomy?"

"I have to go in and watch the patient, he's under general anesthesia!" The anesthesiologist picked up his lead apron and put it on. "So you don't need to go in, it's easy for you to talk when you're standing there."

Despite their complaints, the anesthesiologists still put on their lead aprons one by one.

"You're such a coward."

"Radiation, that's radiation!"

The circulating nurse shrugged, knowing she was "talking without understanding the situation," so she didn't make too much of a fuss about the anesthesiologist.

"Director Bai is really amazing," the circulating nurse exclaimed. "He turned a dead end into a perfect solution with a single move."

"That's right, he's a talent from clinical practice. Look at clinical doctors, they're all brainless, all they know is how to treat patients, all their education has gone to waste." The anesthesiologist, feeling frustrated, started ranting.

The circulating nurse smiled but didn't reply.

Back in the operating room, the surgery began.

Orthopedics uses hybrid operating rooms. In the past, it was considered good if they could take an X-ray during surgery. Later, after upgrades and renovations, they all used DSA equipment.

Orthopedics typically doesn't need so many functions; at most, they'd take an X-ray during surgery, which is quite wasteful. But today, however, they're just what we need.

The door closed, and the anesthesiologist asked, "Director Zhao, how confident are you?"

"Not big," Zhao Xiangming said bluntly. "The transverse lumbar artery is only 1 millimeter in diameter, and we don't have a suitable COBRA tube."

"Didn't it exist before?"

"Sigh, everyone withdrew after the centralized procurement. Who would sell if there's no profit?" Zhao Xiangming said. "Let's give it a try."

With the operating room door closed, the two were able to chat more relaxed.

"This centralized procurement thing... hahaha." The anesthesiologist laughed, "My neighbor has been taking Novartis's Betabate, but after the centralized procurement, the original drug is no longer reimbursed, so he tried to buy the cheaper generic drug that is reimbursed."

"Heh," Zhao Xiangming chuckled.

"My blood pressure can indeed be lowered, but I always feel dizzy. Once, I was driving and felt dizzy and my vision blurred, and I almost had a car accident."

"The price is too low; it's good enough if it can temporarily lower the blood pressure," Zhao Xiangming said while preparing the guidewire. "A while ago, there was a patient in the ICU whom I performed pelvic fracture embolization surgery on. I went to check on him a couple of times after the surgery."

"The infection was quite severe. We used domestically produced Vancomycin for five days to suppress it, and we have already notified the patient's family to prepare for the worst."

"Did you ask the family to buy the medicine themselves?"

"Hmm, the ICU director secretly told the patient's family to buy the imported drug at their own expense," Zhao Xiangming said disdainfully. "If generic drugs were effective, who would want to use such expensive imported drugs? But as it turns out, there's a reason why they're expensive."

"Director Zhao, is your current COBRA working well?"

"It's definitely not going to work well, but I'll try it first," Zhao Xiangming said helplessly. "Although COBRA can shape the body, there are too few models available, which is a real headache."

The anesthesiologist was also aware of Zhao Xiangming's predicament; it was a case of "even a skilled cook can't make a meal without rice."

Besides, Director Zhao Xiangming is hardly a skilled surgeon. Even with a suitable COBRA catheter, it would take him at least two hours to complete the surgery.

However, the advantage of interventional surgery is that it can be tried, and if it fails, a puncture point is left, which is more acceptable to the patient and their family.

If Zhao Xiangming manages to fool them, everyone will be happy.

It can be said that Director Bai's solution was full of wisdom.

The surgery was underway, and Zhao Xiangming quickly located the transverse lumbar artery, but the equipment in his hand was not working properly, and the catheter could not be inserted at all.

After three attempts, the anesthesiologist felt the thyroid nodules were popping out, but they still couldn't get it in.

Zhao Xiangming shook his head, put his hands in the sterile bags in front of him, kicked open the operating room door, and went to the operating room.

"Director Bai, I've done my best, you see..."

"Wait a little longer," Director Bai said calmly.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I called Ji Xiang, he'll come and try it out in a bit."

"!!!"

Deng Chaohong, standing in the corner, looked surprised.

Zhao Tianjiao was somewhat taken aback; this was a level four surgery.

This is a level four surgery.

Moreover, it was a level four surgery that even Director Zhao of the Interventional Radiology Department couldn't perform!

(End of this chapter)