Healing Doctor

Chapter 636 Extremes

The injury process was brief, and the subsequent examination was only briefly shown in the animation.

Movie-quality animation is too expensive to be used on this—because the audience has no interest in it.

The screen displayed the message "13 days later," and the patient was wheeled into the operating room for hybrid surgery.

Under general anesthesia, local angiography is performed first to mark the location of capillaries.

"13 days, that's a really long time."

"Normally it wouldn't take this long. It's probably because Neymar's medical team, which was secretly sabotaging him, didn't trust him and that's what caused the delay," Director Bai said. "They were looking for the best treatment plan, but they missed the best opportunity, which made the surgery more difficult."

"Huh? Lao Bai, you know about this surgery?" Director Liu asked in surprise.

"That's what Xiao Ji just said."

"..."

In the animation, the projection ends.

At this moment, another image overlapped with the angiography image; it was a 64-slice CT scan taken earlier.

Through image overlay, viewers can clearly see the capillaries proliferating on the Achilles tendon fascia over 13 days.

Two capillaries have even grown into the Achilles tendon, causing hyperplasia.

A scalpel appears under the operating light, and the surgeon makes a longitudinal incision about 10cm long along the inner or outer edge of the Achilles tendon.

The process of the knife cutting through the skin was ignored.

Everyone understands that bloodshed is unacceptable; this is the norm.

The fact that the surgical procedure was shown on screen was the result of countless hours of work by the production team.

After incising the subcutaneous and surrounding tissues, the surgeon removes the local hematoma, exposing the two severed ends of the Achilles tendon.

Here, the surgeon did not rush to suture the Achilles tendon, nor did he simply and roughly cut off the overgrown part. Instead, he patiently peeled away the overgrown capillaries and connective tissue little by little.

"Old Bai, is Xiao Ji's approach effective?" Director Liu asked doubtfully.

"It should be useful, otherwise with so many extra blood vessels, the Achilles tendon hyperplasia will definitely be severe after the surgery. Although the hyperplasia will not be much, and the blood supply is only from capillaries, this is the Achilles tendon," Director Bai said.

Director Liu was skeptical, while Boss Ding listened intently.

In the animation, the surgeon completely peels off and removes the proliferating capillaries and a very small amount of connective tissue at both ends of the Achilles tendon rupture.

The whole process looked simple, but Director Bai was convinced that the surgeon must have used a microscope and was performing orthopedic surgery using microsurgery.

Orthopedic surgeries are usually quite rough, involving chisels, axes, and saws, making a lot of clanging and banging, like a construction job. "When did they start using microscopes?" Director Bai curled his lip, a hint of disdain in his expression.

Neurosurgery is at the very top of the hierarchy of departments. The only department that can rival neurosurgery in looking down on it is cardiac surgery. Apart from that, all other departments are inferior.

After carefully dissecting and removing the overgrown tissue, the surgeon flexed the patient's knee joint to 30° to reduce tension.

The patient's Achilles tendon was ruptured at its insertion point. The surgeon used a hand drill to drill a hole obliquely downwards from the upper back of the calcaneus and enlarged the upper part of the hole.

Then, the proximal end of the Achilles tendon was sutured with a No. 7 suture using the figure-eight suture method. The No. 7 suture was then removed and passed through the bone hole of the calcaneus to exit the skin of the sole of the foot. The No. 7 suture was then fixed to the button in plantar flexion.

"Aren't we supposed to use steel wire here? Can one No. 7 wire work? I doubt even two No. 7 wires could withstand the force," Director Liu asked.

"Isn't this supposed to be sewn directly together? Why are you drilling holes?" Boss Ding asked.

The two people have different perceptions, and therefore ask different questions.

Director Bai stared at the screen without blinking and said calmly, "To minimize damage, Xiao Ji chose line number 7, which is why we didn't use steel wire. Steel wire is strong, but it's too rough."

"The damage is indeed minor, but Line 7 isn't very sturdy either."

"I reckon Xiao Ji knows what's going on."

"Director Bai, didn't you say it would only take two stitches? Why are there wires and holes? This doesn't seem like a minor surgery at all," Boss Ding asked curiously.

"Because the tension is too great, this is one of the main reasons why the movement function is impaired after the Achilles tendon is ruptured. In a normal position, even a No. 7 suture cannot be considered strong. When the Achilles tendon is ruptured at its insertion point, the tension at both ends of the rupture is too great, so only steel wire can be used."

"But you know that steel wire will definitely cause some secondary damage... I didn't expect Xiao Ji to be so extreme."

Director Bai gave a brief explanation, not caring whether Boss Ding understood or not, and continued to concentrate on watching the animation.

The animation explains it quite clearly, showing how the broken area was stitched up and fixed, and there's even a "microscopic" animation.

The surgeon's suture needle tip travels through the fibrous connective tissue. Under microscopic observation, the connective tissue is not connected, but rather resembles a dense forest.

Even the finest suture needles were incredibly thick during this process, resembling alien behemoths.

But this alien behemoth did not rampage. No one knows what method the sorcerer used, but this "alien behemoth" moved gently through the jungle.

The needle and thread cause minimal damage to the Achilles tendon connective tissue.

Even Director Bai noticed that the rough sutures followed a somewhat strange path, and the surgeon's goal was clear—to minimize damage to the Achilles tendon's fibrous tissue.

But how did he do it?

Director Bai looked at it for a long time but still couldn't understand it.

He was not interested at all, and did not even have the mind to call Ji Xiang to find the answer, because Director Bai knew that even if Ji Xiang told him everything without reservation, he would not understand.

The surgery ended just like that, "simply and easily".

After the surgery, the affected limb was immobilized, and time was fast-forwarded. When the postoperative date was fast-forwarded to 12 days, the patient took a tentative step on the ground under the doctor's guidance.

Upon seeing this, Director Bai's heart leaped into his throat.

The doubts raised by Line 7 are still there. It's only been 12 days. Will it work?

Even with wire sutures, it generally takes about 4 weeks before patients can begin tentative activities.

Ji Xiang, on the one hand, reduced surgical damage, and on the other hand, shortened the patient's recovery period.

This approach is simply too radical!

It was so radical that Director Bai couldn't accept it.

In the animation, the patient recovers very well, tentatively gets out of bed and moves around, and receives a scientific rehabilitation training program.

Because the time was short, the muscle tissue in the affected limb did not atrophy as severely, and recovery was relatively easy.

Even after understanding the surgical procedure, Director Bai still harbored doubts.

After all, the later recovery phase was just an animation, not Neymar's actual condition, and it didn't mean the surgery was successful.

"The production team is being incredibly irresponsible," Director Liu said, frowning. "What if Neymar's recovery after the surgery isn't satisfactory? Wouldn't they make Xiao Ji take the blame? They're putting Xiao Ji in such a precarious position just for ratings."

Director Bai nodded slightly.

He watched this episode with great concern, unlike previous episodes where he could offer his own commentary after watching them.

Ji Xiang's "new" surgical technique is like walking a tightrope; one wrong move and the surgery will fail.

(End of this chapter)