A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 324

Chapter 62. Flying in the Sky (4)

*Beep!*

Ji-hye set the medical timer to 10 seconds and pressed the start button.

The invisible time began to tick away.

Before arriving in the operating room, Ji-hye had a favorable impression of Jun-hoo.

Actor-like appearance.

Model-like physique.

Kind eyes and tone.

Courage to jump off a cliff for the sake of the patient and a thorough sense of duty, and so on.

But when Jun-hoo said that the hematoma removal should be done before the hemoperitoneum surgery [surgery to repair bleeding in the abdominal cavity].

The rose-colored glasses of all her favorable impressions were shattered.

Now, Ji-hye was convinced that Jun-hoo was a human who only knew himself.

She was convinced that he was a human who wanted to be the main character in the world.

If he really cared about the patient.

He shouldn’t have made such a foolish decision.

“Scalpel, please.”

“…….”

“Doctor?”

“Ah. Yes. I’m sorry.”

She was late to respond because she was lost in thought.

Ji-hye handed Jun-hoo the scalpel with a slightly embarrassed expression. But Jun-hoo did not receive the scalpel.

“Are you telling me not to operate?”

Ji-hye, who was puzzled by Jun-hoo’s sarcasm, belatedly realized its meaning.

She had handed Jun-hoo the blade part of the scalpel.

Her face flushed.

Ji-hye hurriedly turned the scalpel 180 degrees and handed Jun-hoo the handle part of the scalpel.

“You hate me, right? You think I seduced Dr. Seong-min with absurd words, right?”

Ji-hye forcibly swallowed the words ‘You know it’ that were about to pop out of her throat.

“But, you know what? You shouldn’t bring emotions from outside the operating room into the operating room. If you’re going to hate me, hate me as much as you want after the surgery is over.”

Jun-hoo took the scalpel and stared at Ji-hye.

His eyes were calmly lowered.

Those eyes were the eyes of the professors. They were like rocks that did not shake even when a typhoon raged.

It was an eye that really believed that hematoma removal was possible within 10 minutes.

“I still think your judgment was wrong.”

“People argue even about choosing a food menu. It would be stranger if they didn’t argue about saving people’s lives.”

“You still have time to chat in the midst of all this?”

Ji-hye stared at the timer and sneered.

“It’s more important to get you to focus on the surgery than to save 1-2 minutes right now.”

“Anyone who sees you would think you’re a famous doctor on the news, not a resident.”

“When I stand in the position of the chief surgeon, I always think I’m a famous doctor. I have to have a sense of responsibility befitting the position.”

Jun-hoo still didn’t seem to have any intention of performing surgery.

Even though the surgery time had passed by a minute.

He just held the scalpel in his hand.

He hadn’t done anything.

When she glanced at Seong-min on the opposite side, Seong-min just watched the two of them without any intervention.

Ji-hye found it difficult to know Seong-min’s true feelings, especially today.

“Dr. Ji-hye.”

“What?”

“We are comrades on the same boat. Doctor, you want to save the patient, right?”

“Of course. Is that even a question…….”

“Me too. Since the purpose is the same, we are comrades. I’m only acting as captain for 9 minutes. Please help me act as captain until then.”

“Okay. I didn’t come into the operating room to fight with Dr. Jun-hoo either.”

Jun-hoo nodded instead of answering.

He began to cut the patient’s hair with the razor in his hand.

It was a process called ‘shaving the head’ to prevent infection due to hair after surgery.

Jun-hoo’s hand movements were nimble.

To exaggerate a little, it was like his hands were flying in the air.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Not a single strand of hair remained where the razor had passed. The patient’s head, which had been lush, was quickly turning into a bald mountain.

No way.

Is he human? Or a barber?

Ji-hye admired inwardly.

Shaving the head was not very important, but it was a necessary and labor-intensive task.

It took an average of 5 minutes.

But what?

Jun-hoo finished shaving the head in just 1 minute.

The patient’s head was already sparse and lush.

The patient’s cut hair was piled high on the surgical cloth laid out to receive the hair.

If you collect it all, you might be able to make a wig.

At that time, Jun-hoo neatly folded the surgical cloth with the hair piled on it and threw it on the floor.

“Dr. Seong-min. Please prepare for the scalp incision.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

Seong-min disinfected the patient’s smooth scalp with cotton soaked in povidone solution [antiseptic].

He covered it with a white surgical drape.

The surgical drape looked whiter thanks to the shadowless lamp.

“Number 10 blade.”

“Yes.”

Ji-hye inserted an unwrapped number 10 blade into the scalpel and handed it to Jun-hoo.

This time, she handed it over properly with the handle side.

The scattered mind was now gathering into one point.

* * *

Ssssk.

Jun-hoo made a 4-centimeter-long incision on the patient’s left temporal region.

The scalp split as if a piece of paper was torn.

The cut surface was clean and flat.

It was as if it had been cut with a ruler.

As soon as the incision was finished, red blood flowed out of the incision without ceasing.

But there was no mistake in the incision.

This was because the scalp had more blood vessels distributed than other skin.

Ji-hye wiped the blood flowing from the incision with gauze.

Seong-min used a retractor to open the incision up and down.

In an instant, the surgical field of vision was clear.

Jun-hoo cut the pink flesh inside the incision once more horizontally.

The scalp exists in three layers.

Outer scalp, inner scalp, subcutaneous tissue.

Since the first cut split the outer scalp from half of the inner scalp.

It was to further cut the remaining area.

Ssssk.

A second incision was created as the scalpel passed.

Blood gushed from the torn flesh.

Cheee.

Ji-hye suctioned the blood with a suction device as if she had been waiting.

Her movements were as quick as a flying squirrel.

She seemed to have quite a bit of experience assisting in neurosurgery.

Although it was the very beginning, the surgery was going smoothly. He could also feel that Ji-hye and Seong-min were focusing on the surgery.

“Retractor.”

“Yes.”

Jun-hoo installed a fixed retractor in the incision. He opened the incision appropriately and tightened the retractor’s screw.

“Wow. The bone fragments are like cookie crumbs.”

“It looks more serious when you see it with your own eyes. Can Dr. Seo handle it?”

Ji-hye and Seong-min shook their heads when they saw the patient’s turtle shell-like skull.

“This is what they call a blessing in disguise. It’s better this way.”

“How can you say that when you see this?”

Seong-min clicked his tongue and asked back.

He was dumbfounded that Jun-hoo used the word ‘blessing in disguise’ when the patient’s skull was shattered.

Jun-hoo showed it with actions instead of words.

He revealed a skull about a quarter the size of his palm with forceps.

The milky fat layer hidden behind it peeked out.

“The skull is shattered, so there’s no need to do a craniotomy [surgical opening of the skull] separately.”

“Ah…… I didn’t think of that. The most time-consuming part of hematoma removal is craniotomy, right?”

“Of course.”

Jun-hoo nodded, suctioning bone fragments around the arachnoid membrane [a membrane that surrounds the brain].

The most difficult and labor-intensive task in brain surgery was craniotomy.

But the patient’s skull was already mostly shattered.

“So you took this into account and said you would finish it in 10 minutes?”

“You saw it exactly. If the patient didn’t have a skull fracture, I wouldn’t have suggested removing the hematoma before the hemoperitoneum surgery.”

“Wow! You’re really a 2nd year who’s like a 3rd or 4th year.”

Seong-min admired and praised Jun-hoo, and Jun-hoo smiled.

In fact, even a 3rd or 4th year could not have come up with this idea.

In a situation where hemoperitoneum surgery is urgent.

How could you be so bold as to suggest removing the hematoma first?

Even if they were lucky enough to come up with the idea.

They did not have the ability to handle hematoma removal in 10 minutes.

Jun-hoo removed the arachnoid membrane in one fell swoop.

The problematic hematoma was in the subarachnoid space [space between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mater] that unfolded below.

The size of the dark red hematoma was nearly 100cc [cubic centimeters].

It was a medium to large size among hematomas.

Swallowing the blood that had burst from the surrounding blood vessels, it was still growing in size.

What would have happened if the hemoperitoneum surgery had been done first?

The hematoma would have grown even larger and pressed on nearby nerves.

It would have left the patient with permanent brain damage.

Considering the location, the speaking area would have been damaged.

Jun-hoo shuddered as he imagined the patient who might have stuttered after the surgery.

It is true that life is the most important thing.

No one could deny it.

But QOC (Quality of life) should not be ignored either.

Jun-hoo wanted to give the patient not only life but also quality of life.

“Suction.”

“Yes.”

Cheee.

Jun-hoo tried to aspirate the hematoma using a suction device. But the hematoma’s resistance was not easy.

The hematoma only stuck to the entrance of the suction device and did not get sucked inside easily.

It was like an 8-year-old child who was making his parents worry.

Even if he increased the output of the suction device, the result was the same.

Eventually, Jun-hoo gave up suction.

“No, what kind of hematoma is that in the world? It’s so strong. So strong.”

Seong-min’s words were playful, but Seong-min’s voice contained a feeling of embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Ji-hye was looking at Jun-hoo with an expression that she didn’t know what to help with.

“Aspiration doesn’t work, so what are you going to do?”

“First, can I have number 10?”

Jun-hoo tried to carefully cut the hematoma vertically with the scalpel he received from Ji-hye.

But the scalpel was not able to exert any force and was just spinning on the surface.

It seemed that the outer surface of the hematoma had already hardened and sclerosis [abnormal hardening of body tissue] had progressed.

Every time he drew the scalpel vertically.

The hematoma only had a heart-shaped center that was dented.

“Ha…….”

Laughing helplessly, Jun-hoo took his hand off the hematoma.

There was no other setback.

It was like running a marathon and getting a cramp in your leg right in front of the finish line and not being able to do anything.

“How about aspirating with a syringe?”

Seong-min offered an alternative.

“The scalpel doesn’t work, so can a syringe needle pierce the hematoma?”

“At least try it.”

“Can you give me a 50cc syringe with a 16G needle inserted?”

“Yes. Doctor.”

Jun-hoo stabbed the hematoma while changing the syringe needle, but the hematoma did not budge.

As with using a scalpel, the hematoma that touched the syringe needle did not burst and only changed shape.

Jun-hoo’s face also distorted every time.

“Didn’t you have a case like this when you were doing neurosurgery?”

Ji-hye opened her mouth after a long time.

“It looks like a calcified hematoma [hematoma that has hardened due to calcium deposits]. I’ve never seen a hematoma of this size among calcified hematomas.”

Jun-hoo bit his lip and looked down at the hematoma. Then he also glanced at the timer.

Now there were only 40 seconds left.

Even the time to think felt like a luxury.

The decreasing numbers were strangling Jun-hoo’s heart like a noose.

Don’t look for the answer elsewhere.

The answer is always within me.

Jun-hoo closed his eyes for about 3 seconds and then opened them.

The feeling of the scalpel in his hand suddenly felt vivid.

Jun-hoo realized that he was a swordsman from the martial arts world after a long time.

It was because he had been using internal energy for most of his examinations and treatments for a while.

Soon, the scalpel in Jun-hoo’s hand approached the hematoma.

The scalpel lying horizontally scattered dazzling light.

“Dr. Jun-hoo. What are you doing?”

“I’m going to cut the hematoma with a scalpel.”

“It’s too dangerous! What are you going to do if you cut the nerves and blood vessels by mistake?”

Ji-hye urgently tried to stop Jun-hoo.

But it didn’t reach Jun-hoo’s ears.

Jun-hoo had crossed dozens of lives and deaths with the sword.

Jun-hoo’s swordsmanship, tempered by life and death, was more precise and sharper than anything else.

把酒臨風 (Bajulimpoong) [Chinese idiom meaning “toasting the wind” or “drinking in the face of the wind”, often used to describe a heroic or unrestrained spirit].

Flash!

The scalpel left a horizontal trajectory in the air.