Chapter 789 - 368: Conservative Treatment Is Compassion, Dreadful Complications

Chapter 789: Chapter 368: Conservative Treatment Is Compassion, Dreadful Complications

Just one glance, and he shook his head repeatedly.

"This patient is already beyond cure, medicine and stones cannot heal."

Li Jingsheng operates a clinic, and to be honest, he can generally judge whether a patient can be saved just by taking a couple of looks and asking about the general situation.

For patients like this, who have been sick for a long time without a cure and are starting to show multiple complications, Li Jingsheng always keeps his distance.

If it were Boss Zhao from the Quick Recovery Clinic, he would definitely advise the patient to bother another clinic immediately.

"If it were easy to treat, why would I find you? Just consider it as helping me out, let’s discuss together!"

Lian Tao was obviously prepared.

The severely ill patients admitted to Internal Medicine are never easy to treat; basically, each one is a fight with King Yama for their life.

Moreover, each department admits critically ill patients with different characteristics.

For example, respiratory failure patients in Pulmonary Medicine can die just like that.

If they can’t breathe in or out, they will die.

Sometimes, the ventilator’s parameters are perfectly adjusted, but in the middle of the night, the patient’s condition suddenly changes. By the time the problem is discovered, it’s already necessary to start resuscitation.

There are also patients who have been intubated for a long time and inevitably encounter infections, making it impossible to save them.

Even a patient getting choked on a bit of phlegm and failing to suction in time can be fatal in minutes.

Neurology patients, on the other hand, have a wide variety of issues, such as intracranial hemorrhage, tumors, and brain injuries. When patients here die, it’s often silent; they leave without a word.

Critically ill patients in the Gastroenterology Department are characterized by extreme emaciation and weakness, along with numerous complications.

For instance, take this old man, aged 76, who due to prolonged vomiting and diarrhea, eventually developed a fever, and even his consciousness became clouded, which is why he was sent to the hospital for treatment.

Lian Tao didn’t know what he was thinking about, admitting such a critical patient.

According to the process, such patients generally have two options.

If the family is economically well-off, and the children or spouse are willing to spend money, he goes directly into intensive care for a few days. After a while, the family can decide whether to continue.

Many just do their best; costs can reach eight or nine thousand a day, or even as high as two or three ten thousand, which many families can’t bear.

If the patient’s condition doesn’t improve after a few days, they might have the tubes withdrawn directly.

If they improve, they can be transferred back to a general ward, which would be a delight for all.

Another common situation is when the patient’s condition doesn’t improve but also doesn’t deteriorate further after entering the ICU.

At this point, they are basically holding on by a few tubes.

If the reimbursement ratio is high, they can hold on and continue the treatment.

Li Jingsheng has even seen critically ill patients stay in the ICU for over half a year.

They rely on ventilators to breathe, undergo hemodialysis every once in a while, and are fed through nasal tubes by nurses.

This elderly man with diarrhea, although not yet needing ICU admission, is in terrible condition.

The old man has a decades-long history of high blood pressure.

He developed high blood pressure at seventeen or eighteen and has been controlling it with medication ever since.

Li Jingsheng has never encountered a patient with nearly sixty years of high blood pressure before.

Despite having a five to six-decade history of high blood pressure, the patient hasn’t developed any heart disease, and his lungs remain healthy.

This suggests that high blood pressure, while frightening, doesn’t significantly affect lifespan as long as it’s well controlled.

"Though the patient currently exhibits numerous symptoms, the primary ones are diarrhea and vomiting. After performing cardiopulmonary examinations, there aren’t any significant issues. Therefore, I believe that if we can identify the cause of the diarrhea and vomiting and treat it correctly and consistently, we should be able to cure the person."

Lian Tao stated seriously.

It’s clear that his resolve to save this elderly man is strong.

"But have you considered that the patient is already showing notable complications now? It’s possible that even if you give your all, the patient still might not survive in the end. I’m not saying this from a utilitarian standpoint; I just feel that what can be done for this patient has already been done, but the progression of his condition is unstoppable. Wouldn’t conventional treatment be friendlier to both the patient and the family?

If you insist on pushing it, three outcomes might occur.

The best scenario would be that the condition improves after treatment and the patient recovers basic health. It’s more likely that the patient will undergo treatment and eventually end up in the ICU; I think this is the most probable.

And after staying in the ICU, the patient still might not survive in the end.

Another possibility is that the patient dies directly after treatment."

Li Jingsheng once attended a very vivid lecture when he was working at the First Hospital in the past.

The situation for that patient was similar to that of this elderly man, with a severe condition and multiple complications starting to appear.

The family repeatedly requested the doctors to do everything to save him.

The head of the respiratory department couldn’t bear to see the family fall into immense grief either.

Ultimately, they decided to do their utmost to save that patient.

But against their wishes, after undergoing resuscitation for a month and a half, the patient still passed away in the end.

To save that patient, the family sold their only house.

They also borrowed over six hundred thousand yuan from relatives, friends, and through various channels.

The patient was hospitalized for forty-six days and the total cost was over 1.7 million. The reimbursement ratio was very low, and many of the drugs used were imported.

In the end, they even used ECMO, the ultimate life-saving device.

The person was gone, the house was gone, and they were left with massive debts.

The patient’s wife also lost her job eventually, as she had to take care of her husband’s hospitalization and funeral arrangements.