Healing Doctor

Chapter 391 World-Class

Coach Feng watched as Zhao Dali spoke with great enthusiasm, seemingly unaware of the sorrows of youth, and couldn't help but feel a little melancholy.

The child is still young, doesn't know what worries are, and doesn't know what an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the knee means.

I've given it my all this time; if it doesn't work, then so be it.

Zhao Dali is just unlucky.

Athletes injured in the provincial sports team can receive reimbursement for treatment at the First Affiliated Hospital. However, at the Second Affiliated Hospital, they can only use medical insurance.

If Zhao Dali hadn't met me, he would have spent his whole life stuck in the mountains, and he wouldn't have had the money for surgery.

Coach Feng felt a pang of sadness at the thought of the fallen genius.

Seeing the coach return, Ji Xiang smiled and said, "Then I'll be going now. Remember what I told you, don't be nervous."

"Yes!" Zhao Dali nodded vigorously.

Ji Xiang extended his right fist and bumped it with Zhao Dali's.

Coach Feng didn't accept this way of greeting from the young man. Seeing the young doctor leave, he asked, "Dali, what were you two talking about?"

"Coach!" Zhao Dali's eyes lit up. "That young doctor was also an athlete, a marathon runner."

"..."

Coach Feng really wanted to open Zhao Dali's head to see if it was full of sheep droppings.

"We exchanged some running experiences, and it's true! His physical fitness is excellent; he said he runs a half marathon every morning before coming to work. He also suffered an injury a few years ago, a cruciate ligament injury, which healed after surgery."

"Uh, really?"

"He knew exactly how I felt when I was injured, just like I did. I think it's true." Zhao Dali said excitedly, clenching his fist. "Coach, really, there are some things I didn't remember, and he reminded me."

"Then why doesn't he run a marathon?"

"His family wanted him to study medicine, and after graduation he came to the First Affiliated Hospital. Just now, Dr. Ji showed me a photo of his award certificate for winning a marathon with 10,000 participants when he was in school. It took him a little longer than me, but not by much."

Coach Feng was somewhat bewildered. He stared blankly at Zhao Dali, wondering if this was how patients communicated.

Communicating about medical conditions requires a common language.

I've heard from others, and even from myself, that I've seen several athletes with cruciate ligament injuries and talked to them, but when it comes to comforting Zhao Dali, I can never quite find the right words.

However, the doctor's injury had nothing to do with the surgery. Coach Feng saw that Zhao Dali was happy, but he was not happy at all.

……

……

"Xiao Ji, let's go out for a bite to eat before tomorrow's surgery. A good meal will help us get back to work. What do you like to eat?" Deng Chaohong didn't leave either; he was waiting for Ji Xiang.

The patient's excellent outcome after a second surgery for a rotator cuff tear surprised Deng Chaohong. Being a seasoned clinician, he sensed something was amiss and waited for Ji Xiang to finish his work so he could invite him out for dinner.

"Let's go eat at Qiyang Barbecue," Ji Xiang said.

"Hehe." Deng Chaohong chuckled. "Why do you like barbecue too? It's unhealthy to eat too much of that stuff."

"I've eaten with Director Liu, Teacher Mo, and Teacher Wang in the urology department a few times, and I think it's alright."

Whenever Qiyang barbecue is mentioned, Ji Xiang thinks of the patient with the fish hanging from his arm.

A smile appeared on his face.

The two changed their clothes and left the hospital.

The night wind was a bit chilly. Deng Chaohong asked, "Xiao Ji, I didn't expect the rotator cuff surgery you performed to be so successful."

Ji Xiang smiled but didn't say anything.

"I have performed many surgeries for cruciate ligament injuries of the knee, but like rotator cuff injuries, the recovery of patients' mobility is limited after surgery."

"What are your thoughts on this technique?" Deng Chaohong asked.

"Teacher, let me share my thoughts," Ji Xiang said. "It seems that decades ago, the treatment for cruciate ligament injuries was to suture the ligament, but no matter how it was sutured, the results were not good. Later, they changed to using the sartorius tendon to replace the ligament, but the results were also mediocre."

"Yes." Deng Chaohong nodded.

"In the last decade, artificial ligaments have been used as high-value consumables for replacement, and the results have been quite good."

"Whether it's the sartorius tendon or high-value consumables, the effects are generally mediocre, so doctors abroad have started to research transplantation surgery, replacing the tendons with those from cadaver donors."

"What we need to do is anterior cruciate ligament surgery," Deng Chaohong reminded him.

"From a histological and embryological perspective, they do have something in common," Ji Xiang replied. "Tendons connect bones and muscles, and ligaments connect bones; both are dense connective tissues."

"I know that." Deng Chaohong frowned. Ji Xiang was talking about the simplest basic orthopedic knowledge. Why was he bringing this up?

"From an embryological perspective, for example, the round ligament of the liver is formed by the atrophy of blood vessels after the vascular closure in the embryo."

"Um?"

"Leaving that aside, many studies abroad have shown that neither the sartorius muscle nor high-value consumables can completely replace one's own ligaments and tendons," Ji Xiang said.

"I know that. What are you trying to say?"

"Replacing the tendons from the deceased is the best approach, but it still won't be perfect," Ji Xiang said. "Teacher Deng, do you watch basketball?"

"I watch it occasionally, but I haven't watched it much since Kobe retired."

"Stephen Curry originally needed a tendon transplant, but the medical team at the University of Southern California cured his ankle tendon in another way, turning him from a fragile person into a groundbreaking superstar who gets better with age."

"!!!" Deng Chaohong still didn't understand what Ji Xiang meant.

"Based on the MRI, Zhao Dali's tendons and ligaments have no structural damage, and repair surgery can be performed," Ji Xiang said.

"Reconstructive surgery is more effective than brute force replacement, but there aren't many doctors who can perform reconstructive surgery. I don't mean just 'do,' but 'do it perfectly.' There aren't many surgeons at the level of... Curry's surgery."

Deng Chaohong was taken aback.

What does Ji Xiang mean? Does he think he's a world-class doctor?

"Xiao Ji, although the ligament is not completely torn, some tissue has been absorbed, so it will definitely be affected if it is stretched."

"Look at the repair technique." Ji Xiang hesitated for a moment before explaining, "Our affiliated hospital invited the team that performed the surgery on Stephen Curry back then to perform a demonstration surgery. They've seen similar cases before."

Deng Chaohong was surprised.

I hadn't even heard of such a big event!

But then he realized. It was perfectly normal that he hadn't participated in academic exchanges.

The problem is that Ji Xiang has already looked at it, but he still doesn't know if it's feasible.

Deng Chaohong asked many technical questions, and Ji Xiang answered them one by one.

The barbecue was tasteless. Although it is said that the barbecue in Qiyang uses real mutton, in Deng Chaohong's mouth it tasted like it was made with mixed meat and mutton.

Nearly two hours later, Deng Chaohong was somewhat lost in thought.

"Xiao Ji, why don't you try it tomorrow?"

(End of this chapter)