A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 45

The Martial Surgeon – Episode 45

Chapter 8: Emergency Medicine (7)

The deliberation didn’t last long.

Jun-hoo, who had an exceptional talent for creating work for himself, quickly found his next goal.

Thump. Thump.

Leaving the on-call room, Jun-hoo headed straight for the thoracic surgery department.

There was something he wanted to test out in thoracic surgery.

The biggest challenge in emergency medicine was distinguishing between emergency and non-emergency patients.

Among those tasks, Jun-hoo focused on assessing the severity of thoracic surgery patients.

Acute myocardial infarction [heart attack] or angina pectoris [chest pain due to reduced blood flow to the heart] were often difficult to identify through interviews and tests.

Especially if the patient was in the early stages of the disease.

There were often tragedies where patients were told they were fine in the emergency room and sent home.

Only to return near death a few hours later.

Although Jun-hoo hadn’t experienced it yet.

There was no guarantee that Jun-hoo wouldn’t encounter such a patient while working in the emergency department.

So he wanted to prepare in advance.

He wanted to develop his own way of treating cardiovascular disease patients that other doctors could never do.

‘I hope it goes well.’

Throughout his journey to the thoracic surgery department.

His heart was filled with alternating anticipation and worry.

Because he was about to embark on his first attempt and challenge.

It was at that moment when he arrived at the thoracic surgery department.

He felt someone approaching from behind, trying to put their hand on his shoulder.

Jun-hoo slightly turned his body to avoid the touch.

“Seo Jun-hoo, do you have eyes in the back of your head?”

“I do. Did you just find out?”

Jun-hoo turned around and faced the person. The one who tried to put his hand on Jun-hoo’s shoulder was none other than Sung-ho.

A close friend from medical school, a third-time college entrant.

“Creepy. Something’s different about you after dealing with gangsters.”

“What? Has the rumor already spread to the thoracic surgery department?”

Jun-hoo tilted his head and asked.

“It’s widespread. It would be faster to find someone who doesn’t know your news.”

“I’ve unintentionally become a celebrity.”

Jun-hoo smiled awkwardly.

He didn’t like being the center of attention, but Jun-hoo had always lived in the spotlight.

Getting involved in various incidents.

And making his name known while solving those incidents.

“You’ve always been an attention seeker.”

“Me, an attention seeker? Come on, that’s not true.”

“You are an attention seeker. An involuntary one. Hehehe.”

Jun-hoo was talking with Sung-ho in the hallway.

He was mostly listening to Sung-ho’s story. Sung-ho, who was a thoracic surgery intern, said he was having a terrible time.

Working as an assistant in the operating room for several hours.

And after assisting.

Returning to the ward to handle ward duties felt like his body and soul were being torn apart.

So, even though Jun-hoo envied Sung-ho, who was an intern in surgery, he couldn’t show it.

Because it wasn’t something he could say in front of Sung-ho, who was having a hard time.

“If you have time, sit down for a moment.”

“Don’t tell me, the legendary massage?”

“That’s right. You’re quick to catch on.”

Just like in medical school, Jun-hoo used Chugung [stimulating blood points] and Hyeolgeo [removing blood stasis] on Sung-ho’s neck and waist.

Releasing the knotted and tense muscles.

He also used Jeomhyeol [pressure point technique], infused with the internal energy he had just obtained from the red ginseng.

Baekhoe point located on the crown of the head.

Taeyang point near the temples.

Cheonchu point, a hollow in the back of the head, were pressed gently in sequence.

Thick cerebral blood vessels passed through these points, and stimulating them could clear the head.

Indeed, the effect was remarkable.

Sung-ho’s expression, which had been worn out by fatigue, brightened up.

“Wow! I feel refreshed like I had a good sleep. Your massage is something else. Did you do it for the emergency room seniors too?”

“…….”

“I feel like you’d be loved if you just gave massages.”

“Of course, I did. That’s why my nickname is ‘Magic Hands’.”

Beep, beep.

Sung-ho’s pager rang at that moment.

Sung-ho answered the phone, said ‘Yes, yes,’ and then hung up with a sigh.

“Station?”

“Yeah. They want me to draw ABGA [arterial blood gas analysis] from a patient. It’s so annoying, seriously. It’s Seung-beom’s job to handle the ward duties, but that bastard doesn’t do any work.”

“Yoo Seung-beom is working in thoracic surgery too?”

Jun-hoo was surprised by the unexpected news.

“Yeah. That bastard is already acting like a fourth-year resident because his dad is the vice president of medical affairs.”

Like father, like son.

Seung-beom seemed to be working like a jerk even as an intern.

Jun-hoo frowned as he recalled his past bad experiences with Seung-beom.

“You’re going through a lot. I’ll take care of the order, so you just go to the operating room.”

“Really? Can I do that?”

“It’s my day off. I have plenty of time.”

“Thank you so much, you saved me. Thanks for the massage, and I’ll leave it to you.”

Jun-hoo watched Sung-ho’s retreating figure for a long time.

Sung-ho’s back looked particularly pitiful today.

An intern was a ‘Misaeng’ [Incomplete Life, referring to someone who is not yet fully realized or recognized].

A doctor, but not yet recognized as one.

An existence not recognized by residents, let alone nurses.

Or a semi-slave who had to passively follow orders.

That’s why quite a few interns left the hospital without completing the one-year training period.

All they could do was cheer them on to overcome it.

Jun-hoo hurried to the thoracic surgery station.

* * *

From 2 p.m., when the ward was at its busiest.

Jun-hoo took over the thoracic surgery ward duties.

“Why is an emergency medicine intern helping with thoracic surgery ward duties?” the nurses asked in surprise.

Because Jun-hoo’s case was extremely unconventional.

What intern in the world would help with another department’s ward duties on their precious day off?

But Jun-hoo had the goal of early diagnosis of heart disease.

And this goal could only be achieved in thoracic surgery.

For Jun-hoo, thoracic surgery ward duties were, on the contrary, extremely conventional.

‘Finally, the opportunity has come.’

Jun-hoo’s eyes sparkled as he moved to a ward, handling miscellaneous treatments and tests.

He was on his way to draw ABGA.

It just so happened that the patient was an angina patient.

Angina is, simply put, a disease in which the heart arteries become blocked.

If the patient doesn’t receive timely surgery or treatment, they can die from a heart attack.

Thump, thump.

Jun-hoo entered the ward and stood in front of the patient.

The patient’s name was Kang Cheol-soo.

He was 62 years old.

CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting) [a surgery to improve blood flow to the heart] was scheduled for two days later.

The guardian was not visible, perhaps having left for a moment.

“Patient, I’m here to draw blood.”

“Again? That’s so painful.”

The patient frowned.

“I’ll make it painless. Just trust me.”

“Everyone says that. That weasel-like doctor said that too.”

The weasel-like person seemed to be referring to Seung-beom.

What on earth did he do to the ABGA to get this kind of reaction from the patient?

Jun-hoo’s curiosity was quickly resolved.

The patient rolled up his sleeve himself, and his arm was a mess.

It was almost at the level of a beehive.

There were blue bruises everywhere the needle had been inserted.

He must have poked around the patient’s blood vessels quite a bit.

Even for a rookie intern, this was too much.

Jun-hoo felt anger towards Seung-beom.

While also feeling sorry for the patient.

“Just trust me one more time, as if you’re being deceived.”

After reassuring the patient, Jun-hoo succeeded in ABGA in one go.

In the world of martial arts, he had wielded his sword countless times.

And he had performed precise swordsmanship.

So, inserting a needle into a blood vessel was something he could do with his eyes closed.

“Huh. Really? You must be skilled?”

“I’m a hundred times better than that weasel-like guy, right?”

The patient laughed pleasantly when Jun-hoo insulted Seung-beom.

Jun-hoo felt like he had built trust with the patient, so he moved on to the next step.

“Patient, do you feel any discomfort in your chest?”

“Of course, I do. That’s why I’m hospitalized and getting surgery.”

“If you don’t mind, can I give you a chest massage?”

“Do you know how to do that?”

“I didn’t learn it at the hospital, but I learned it at home, and it’s effective.”

“Then go ahead.”

The patient readily agreed.

Having obtained permission, Jun-hoo lifted the patient’s top and placed his hand on his left chest.

Finally, he was trying out the long-awaited new examination method.

This was why he didn’t hesitate to do chores in the thoracic surgery department.

Let’s not be nervous and take it easy.

Woooong.

Jun-hoo shot internal energy towards the patient’s heart.

The examination method Jun-hoo was testing was a type of angiography performed with internal energy.

Angiography is a major test to determine heart attack, angina, myocardial infarction, etc.

It involves injecting a contrast agent into the patient’s blood vessels and taking an X-ray to check if there are any blockages in the patient’s blood vessels.

But Jun-hoo was trying to do this with internal energy.

If there is a test called angiography, why bother replacing it with internal energy angiography?

Some might question.

It was a natural and common-sense question.

Angiography is usually performed when abnormal reactions are found in electrocardiograms or blood tests.

However, in the early stages of acute myocardial infarction, acute heart attack, unstable angina, etc.

There were times when no findings were found in electrocardiograms and blood tests.

Since there were no abnormal findings, angiography was omitted.

Therefore, no appropriate treatment was given.

As a result, the patient would often be brought in by 119 [Korean emergency number] later in a deteriorated condition.

Jun-hoo wanted to prepare for such unforeseen events in advance.

If he could perform angiography with internal energy.

The diagnosis and treatment would be faster.

And he wouldn’t be scolded by patients for doing expensive tests to rip them off.

“Doctor, your hands are warm?”

“It must be because my heart is warm.”

After making a joke, Jun-hoo concentrated on feeling the vibrations of the internal energy.

But there were no abnormal signs that he could feel.

The vibrations reflected from the patient were not significantly different from those of ordinary people.

Was it impossible to perform angiography with internal energy?

Was I being too greedy?

Cold sweat began to form on Jun-hoo’s forehead. His concentration also became blurred as his internal energy consumption increased.

“It’s nice and warm, but are you going to keep doing this?”

The patient, who had been silent, politely expressed his discomfort.

Jun-hoo didn’t have much time left.

“I’m sorry, but could you bear with me a little longer? It takes time to see the effect.”

Jun-hoo bit his lip tightly.

He couldn’t give up like this, and he couldn’t back down like this.

He needed to achieve results without offending the patient.

Because there were not many patients suitable for performing internal energy angiography.

This won’t work.

Let’s change the method.

Let’s change the method from pouring internal energy in the form of vibrations to injecting it directly into the blood vessels.

Until now, he had poured internal energy extensively into the patient’s heart and around the heart.

This time, he chose a technique to inject internal energy directly into the patient’s blood vessels.

The consumption of internal energy would be severe, but it was unavoidable to obtain the desired results.

The large arterial blood vessels in the heart are mainly three.

The right coronary artery (RCA).

The left anterior descending artery (LAD) and the left circumflex artery (LCx) branching from the left coronary artery (LCA).

Jun-hoo scanned the right coronary artery and the left anterior descending artery with internal energy.

And then entered the long-awaited left circumflex artery.

The area where the patient was suffering from angina.

Oh? What is this?

Jun-hoo’s eyebrows twitched.

It definitely felt different when he sent internal energy to the left circumflex artery.

The flow rate of internal energy increased rapidly.

If the speed of internal energy that had passed through the previous two blood vessels was about 3.

The speed of internal energy passing through the current two blood vessels was about 7.

Then here’s the question again.

What does it mean that the flow rate of internal energy has increased?

It meant that the blood vessel was narrowed.

Just like when you temporarily narrow the hose connected to the faucet.

The water stream becomes stronger and faster.

[When internal energy passes through a blocked blood vessel, the flow rate of internal energy increases.]

After remembering the sensation he was feeling, Jun-hoo finally took his hand off the patient’s chest.

“Thank you for your hard work. I don’t know if I’ve caused you any trouble.”

“It’s okay. I was just lying still.”

“Then rest comfortably, sir.”

After covering the patient’s top, Jun-hoo left the ward.

Fortunately, there was something to gain.

It seemed entirely possible to perform angiography with internal energy.

So, Jun-hoo.

He was able to perform angiography, which takes at least 30 minutes from examination to diagnosis, in just 2 minutes.

Using internal energy instead of contrast agent.

If he could complete internal energy angiography.

Wouldn’t it be possible to avoid missing early emergency heart disease patients?

Jun-hoo’s heart couldn’t stop being excited by the tremendous discovery.

Alright.

If I do it a few more times, I’ll get a perfect feel for it.