Chapter 261 - 172: The Ruthless Surgical Machine (Part 2)

Chapter 261: Chapter 172: The Ruthless Surgical Machine (Part 2)

She bit her lip hard as a sudden, twisting pain shot up from her upper abdomen, like an awl viciously stabbing into her flesh.

"HISS..."

She leaned against the wall, pressing hard on the area below her stomach with both hands.

This wasn’t the first time she’d felt this kind of pain.

Over the past week, the area would ache faintly every time she went out binge eating and drinking with her friends.

But she thought it was just a regular stomachache.

After all, with a seventeen-year-old’s body, who would worry about a stomachache?

After two minutes, the pain subsided slightly.

Zhang Jiaqi fumbled in her bag, pulled out a box of ibuprofen she’d bought at a pharmacy, popped out two pills, and swallowed them.

"I’m fine, I’m fine."

She tossed her hair, pushing the pain to the back of her mind.

She took out her phone and called her friend back.

"Hey, girl, I’m on my way. Order a dozen Carlsbergs for me. We’re not going home till we’re drunk tonight!"

...

「The next day, early in the morning.」

Yangcheng, Southern Medical University men’s dormitory.

Jiang He opened his eyes at 6:30 a.m. sharp.

Four hours of high-quality, deep sleep had completely revitalized him.

He checked his text messages and saw a reply from Teacher Shen:

"[Dr. Jiang, I’m so sorry! I’ve been busy reviewing exchange student applications these past few days and haven’t been checking my phone much (picture me as a puppy groveling for forgiveness).]"

"[I saw the weather forecast. There are showers in Yangcheng today. You must be tired after yesterday’s surgery, right? Remember to bring an umbrella. And also, no drinking coffee on an empty stomach! If I do a spot check and find out you didn’t eat breakfast, you’re dead meat!]"

’Heh heh, my wife is so cute.’

Jiang He was amused by Teacher Shen.

He could picture Shen Yu typing those words, pretending to be fierce but with eyes full of concern.

’But, sending a message after 3 a.m....’

’No matter how busy she was with the exchange student applications, it wouldn’t keep her up past three.’

’Unless she was having trouble sleeping, or something was on her mind.’

Jiang He thought for a moment and replied: "[As you command, Teacher Shen. I’m already on my way to the cafeteria to buy steamed buns. Take your time with the applications, and don’t stay up too late. I’m coming to the Capital City at the end of the month. I’ll take you to Qianmen for copper pot hot pot.]"

After sending the message, Jiang He then checked all of Shen Yu’s social media accounts and updates. Everything seemed fine.

He then rolled out of bed and headed for Affiliated Hospital No. 1.

...

「8:15 a.m., Affiliated Hospital No. 1, Operating Room.」

The aftershocks from Ma Huaide’s downfall were still being felt, and many empty slots had appeared on the surgical schedule.

And with a stroke of his pen, Yang Xu had filled a large number of these empty slots with Jiang He’s name.

Operating Room 2.

The first surgery scheduled for Jiang He today was an indirect inguinal hernia repair (Lichtenstein tension-free repair).

Zhou Li sat behind the anesthesia machine, checking his medications while watching Jiang He scrub in.

After yesterday’s appendectomy, Zhou Li had stopped underestimating this new undergraduate student.

But a sliver of doubt remained in his mind:

’That blind suturing for hemostasis yesterday was truly stunning, but it didn’t necessarily mean his fundamentals for routine surgery were solid.’

’After all, emergency surgery is a test of courage and on-the-spot reactions.’

’But an elective Level 1 surgery like a hernia repair is a test of precision in dissection.’

’That kind of skill doesn’t come without the experience of hundreds, if not thousands, of procedures.’

"Dr. Jiang, local or epidural?" Zhou Li asked.

"Local. The patient is 55 with a history of hypertension. An epidural could easily cause severe hypotension and hemodynamic fluctuations. For a Lichtenstein procedure, local is perfectly sufficient and safer," Jiang He said, walking in with his dried hands held up.

Gowning, gloving, draping.

Today’s first assistant was once again Xu Chen, while the second assistant was a rotating student from general surgery.

The circulating nurse was Chen Jing.

"Scalpel," Jiang He said, holding out his hand.

Xu Chen slapped a No. 10 blade into his palm.

From the moment the skin was incised, Zhou Li was stunned all over again.

So fast.

It was fluid and flawless, without a single wasted motion.

Perfect and smooth.

The blade sliced open the skin one centimeter above the inguinal ligament, followed immediately by the electrocautery knife.

"Coagulation, turn it up. 35," Jiang He said without looking up.

SIZZLE—

The subcutaneous fat layer was precisely dissected with almost no bleeding, directly exposing the external oblique aponeurosis.

"Xu Chen, thyroid retractor. Retract inferiorly and laterally."

Jiang He cut open the aponeurosis with curved scissors, then immediately used his fingers to perform blunt dissection underneath.

"Be careful to protect the iliohypogastric and ilioinguinal nerves."

As he dissected, Jiang He explained to Xu Chen, "A lot of people get hasty at this step. If you sever the nerves, the patient will have chronic numbness in their upper thigh post-op."

As he finished speaking, he had already used a small gauze sponge to gently retract the two nerves, exposing the spermatic cord.

Zhou Li glanced at the clock on the wall.

From incision to now, only four minutes had passed.

He instinctively sat up straighter.

’This is the rhythm of a senior chief performing surgery. I don’t even dare to slack off!’

"Isolate the spermatic cord."

Jiang He lifted the spermatic cord with a hemostat and passed a Penrose drain underneath it for retraction.

"Find the hernia sac."

He located the hernia sac on the anteromedial aspect of the cord.

He performed a high dissection until the preperitoneal fat was visible.

"Forceps, suture."

He ligated it and excised the excess sac.

"Mesh."

Chen Jing immediately handed him the sterile polypropylene mesh.

The mesh was placed posterior to the spermatic cord, and its edges were sutured to the inguinal ligament and the conjoint tendon.

Jiang He’s suturing speed was so fast that Xu Chen could barely keep up with cutting the threads.

"Leave a two-millimeter tail. Don’t cut it flush," Jiang He reminded him calmly.

"Yes, Teacher," Xu Chen replied, his forehead beaded with sweat, his focus absolute.

"Confirm no bleeding. Closing."

Jiang He sutured the external oblique aponeurosis, reconstructing the external inguinal ring.

He tied the final knot.

"Surgery complete."

Jiang He took a step back and pulled off his gloves.