A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 122

The Martial Surgeon – Chapter 122

Chapter 22: Resident (2)

“Senior, may I insert the ICP monitor?”

Jun-hoo, having finished the skin preparation, asked Min-kyung.

“You? Isn’t it too early? I think it’s better to learn after you’re familiar with other procedures.”

Min-kyung expressed her concern.

Inserting an ICP monitor [Intracranial Pressure monitor – a device used to measure the pressure inside the skull] was by no means an easy procedure.

Depending on the person, it was even classified as a minor surgery rather than a procedure.

Because it involved handling various surgical instruments.

And it was directly related to the patient’s brain.

“I don’t think there will be a better opportunity than today. I also watched you do it last month.”

“If I could follow along just by watching a few times, I would have already done brain surgery.”

“Still, please.”

“Sigh, this is awkward. My seniors might misunderstand that I’m trying to pass my work on to you.”

“I don’t think anyone would think that.”

“Why?”

“Everyone knows that you’re not that kind of person. They’ll probably all know that I begged you.”

Jun-hoo persistently pleaded with Min-kyung.

He wanted to accumulate more medical knowledge as quickly as possible.

He wanted to learn more procedures and surgical assists as quickly as possible.

Jun-hoo’s desire for medical skills soared to the sky.

He knew all too well that emergency patients and emergency situations wouldn’t wait for his growth.

And that wasn’t all.

Just like in the Murim world [a world of martial arts and cultivation, often depicted in Korean fantasy novels].

He didn’t want to helplessly watch his loved ones die without being able to do anything.

That was hell for Jun-hoo.

“I can’t stop a troublemaker, but I especially can’t refuse our Jun-hoo. Fine, go ahead.”

“Thank you, Senior.”

Standing in the position of the surgeon, Jun-hoo lightly rotated his wrists and neck.

It was a simple stretch.

“Should I explain the procedure sequence? It seems difficult to do it right away.”

“It’s okay. I already have it all in my head.”

“Your confidence is piercing the sky. Then I’ll just hand you the surgical tools and point out any mistakes. Ask me anytime if you get stuck.”

“Yes.”

Jun-hoo held the #10 blade that Min-kyung handed him.

The feeling of the scalpel in his hand was vivid.

The tip of the blade gleamed coldly under the shadowless operating light.

Among the disinfected area of the patient’s head, Jun-hoo looked down at Kocher’s point [a specific point on the skull used as a landmark for certain surgical procedures].

Kocher’s point was the location for performing ICP measurements.

It was located 3 centimeters to the right and 1 centimeter above the vertex [the highest point of the skull].

“Shall I give you a ruler?”

“No. This should be it.”

Jun-hoo marked Kocher’s point with a pen.

“It’s difficult to do it by estimation. You have to measure it properly.”

Perhaps dissatisfied with Jun-hoo’s procedure, Min-kyung used a ruler to measure Kocher’s point.

However, the Kocher’s point measured with the ruler and the Kocher’s point measured by Jun-hoo’s estimation were exactly the same.

Min-kyung’s expression was blank for a moment.

“…Jun-hoo, do you have a ruler in your eyes?”

“Maybe I do.”

Jun-hoo chuckled.

For a swordsman, distance control was life.

Whether the sword touched the opponent or not was determined by units of centimeters or even millimeters.

And life and death depended on it.

Thanks to experiencing countless battlefields, Jun-hoo could measure distances accurately, as if using a surveying instrument.

“The marked area also coincides with the coronal plane (an imaginary line dividing the body into front and back) and the sagittal plane (an imaginary line dividing the body into left and right). I’ll proceed as is.”

“Okay. Don’t be nervous.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t know what nervousness is.”

Jun-hoo grinned.

Swoosh.

The gleaming blade of the scalpel split the patient’s scalp.

* * *

Once the scalp and periosteal incision were complete, the skull was revealed.

While Min-kyung spread the incision to the left and right, Jun-hoo held a medical drill in his hand.

The department that used drills besides orthopedics was neurosurgery.

Wee-ing.

When the switch was turned on, the drill rotated fiercely.

The loud noise shook the operating room.

Jun-hoo began to create a burr hole [a small hole drilled into the skull] in the patient’s head.

It was a type of head hole.

There was no need to cut a wide section of the skull just to insert an ICP monitoring device.

The thickness of the skull was an average of 5-10 millimeters.

Considering the thickness of the skull, Jun-hoo delicately drilled a hole in the skull.

Jun-hoo could measure distances not only with his eyes but also with his hands.

Through the length of the drill in his hand, the cutting power of the drill, and through the strength and sensitivity of his own hand pushing the drill.

Living as a swordsman in the Murim world meant having to make these calculations every time.

Soon, the drill stopped.

In the suffocating silence, Jun-hoo placed the drill on the dressing cart.

Inside the hole drilled in the skull, the white dura mater [the outermost of the three layers of membranes protecting the brain and spinal cord] was revealed.

The brain was protected by the dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia mater, in that order.

When Jun-hoo boldly opened the dura mater, the brain wrapped in a transparent membrane was revealed.

It was the brain that would become Jun-hoo’s battlefield in the future.

The control tower that controlled the human body and mind.

An unknown land where the veil of its secrets had not yet been fully lifted.

“Wow. I shouldn’t have stepped up. There’s nothing to criticize so far.”

Min-kyung, who had been watching, said in admiration.

“Of course, there shouldn’t be anything to criticize. I learned by watching you do it, Senior.”

“What? When did you learn to flatter?”

“It’s not flattery, it’s the truth.”

In the past, Jun-hoo assisted Min-kyung in ICP monitoring.

He memorized Min-kyung’s procedure as a martial arts technique.

Measuring Kocher’s point, delicate distance control, how to use surgical tools and the order of use, etc.

The ability to copy the treatments of senior surgeons and formalize them into martial arts techniques.

This ability became the foundation for Jun-hoo to perfectly digest even the first procedures he performed.

“Here, take it. You have to finish it.”

“Yes. Senior.”

Jun-hoo held the 16-gauge catheter that Min-kyung handed him.

It was the moment to put an end to ICP monitoring.

Thwack!

The catheter pierced the arachnoid mater and pia mater.

The destination of the catheter was the ventricle [a cavity within the brain].

The ventricles were empty spaces connected to each other inside the brain, creating cerebrospinal fluid.

Connecting a catheter here allowed for measuring brain pressure.

It also allowed for controlling brain pressure by draining excessive cerebrospinal fluid flowing inside the brain.

The distance to the ventricle was 5 centimeters.

As if he had eyes on his hands, Jun-hoo accurately penetrated the catheter to the ventricle.

The word failure could not exist.

From the moment he held the catheter in his hand, Jun-hoo already predicted that he would succeed in the intubation.

“Did the catheter go in properly?”

“Yes. Senior.”

“Then I’ll connect the monitoring device.”

Min-kyung busily connected the catheter and the monitoring device.

The gauge on the measuring device rose rapidly and pointed to 22 mmHg [millimeters of mercury, a unit of pressure].

Considering that normal brain pressure was 5-15 mmHg, it was a considerably high number.

Therefore, if the patient had been treated purely with medication, the chances were high that the progress would have worsened or the recovery would have been slower.

“It’s embarrassing and shameful to have told me to leave this patient alone.”

Min-kyung clicked her tongue after checking the brain pressure.

“But you did notify Senior Hee-jun. In the end, you measured the patient’s brain pressure.”

“It’s like locking the stable after the cow is gone [taking precautions after the damage has already been done]. Let’s monitor the brain pressure while draining the cerebrospinal fluid for now.”

“Yes. Senior.”

Jun-hoo helped Min-kyung finish the procedure and left the operating room.

ICP monitoring and EVD (Extraventricular Drainage) [a procedure to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid from the brain], one of the core neurosurgical techniques, were successfully completed.

Jun-hoo’s debut score was perfect.

* * *

Jun-hoo, who was busy with work, went up to the ward first.

Min-kyung, who had a surgical assist 30 minutes later, went straight to the lounge.

Hee-jun, a third-year resident, had already arrived and was resting.

“Did you finish the ICP and EVD well?”

Hee-jun took out a drink from the vending machine and handed it to Min-kyung.

“I’ll enjoy it, Senior. But there was nothing to finish well or not. Jun-hoo did it instead of me. Without a single mistake.”

Min-kyung shook her head, recalling Jun-hoo from earlier.

ICP and EVD were techniques that you should be familiar with by your second year.

However, Jun-hoo perfectly digested the technique on his first try.

It was an unbelievable skill, even after seeing it with her own two eyes.

She had known that Jun-hoo was special for a long time, but she never thought that he would succeed in ICP and EVD in one go.

“You have to see Jun-hoo as a genius. I’ve admired him many times too.”

“I know, right? He also figured out that the patient was on drugs and saw the treatment as textbook. To be honest, I was very ashamed of Jun-hoo today.”

“It’s okay. There’s no need to feel self-conscious.”

Hee-jun patted Min-kyung’s shoulder as if to comfort her.

“Jun-hoo is just special; it doesn’t mean you’re incompetent.”

“Is that… so?”

Min-kyung drank her drink and soothed her complicated feelings.

“And depending on how you interpret it, Jun-hoo doing a good job might be more helpful to you, right?”

“Why?”

“You can rely on him to do the work. You don’t have to check twice or three times.”

“That’s true.”

“Try to actively assign work to Jun-hoo in the future. He’ll probably like it.”

Hee-jun’s words were meaningful.

Hee-jun somehow seemed to understand Jun-hoo very well.

“Aren’t you very close to Jun-hoo either, Senior?”

“Well, we’re getting closer. Why? Is it weird that I’m suddenly acting like I know him?”

“Yes.”

“I know someone who has a similar personality to Jun-hoo.”

Hee-jun’s gaze suddenly turned to the ceiling. He seemed to be thinking of ‘that person’.

“Is that person your classmate, Senior?”

“That’s right. Let’s talk about this later and get up?”

“Yes.”

Min-kyung left the lounge with Hee-jun.

* * *

At that time, Jun-hoo was in the bathroom.

After taking various nutritional supplements and even red ginseng, he was doing meditative breathing for about 20 minutes.

Soon, his eyelids slowly rose.

A smile spread across his lips.

Although it was a short time, the effect of meditative breathing was certain.

His heavy body became lighter.

His dulled concentration became sharper.

As always, the combination of nutritional supplements and meditative breathing was a cheat.

Thanks to that, Jun-hoo became a person who didn’t know fatigue.

One of the biggest enemies blocking surgeons was physical strength: decline in physical strength due to murderous workload, and the resulting decline in concentration.

However, Jun-hoo was breaking through the chronic physical strength and concentration problems of medical students with nutritional supplements and meditative breathing.

It was a privilege unique to Jun-hoo, who had experienced the Murim world.

Thump. Thump.

After leaving the bathroom, Jun-hoo walked down the hallway.

In his perception, it felt like it should have been around 4 PM, but the actual time was only 11 AM.

Suddenly, he looked out the window.

Brilliant sunlight was pouring down. The side of his face touched by the sunlight was tinged with warmth.

Jun-hoo’s gaze soon rested on the germanium bracelet he was wearing on his wrist.

Seong-ho’s keepsake.

A medium connecting Jun-hoo and Seong-ho.

A token of his determination to become the world’s best neurosurgeon.

Hyung [older brother or close male friend], did you see?

I did ICP and EVD 멋지게 [admirably/impressively] today.