A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 468

Chapter 91: Neurosurgery Head (4)

Ring, ring~

The phone rang in the neurosurgery resident room.

Resident Yoon Chan, a first-year, who had been dozing off, jolted awake.

Yoon Chan wiped the drool from his mouth with the back of his hand, then wiped his hand on his blue scrub pants pocket.

He was dead tired.

Even though he was on call, he was working full shifts without a break.

This was because his second-year senior had collapsed that morning due to a traumatic pneumothorax [collapsed lung caused by injury], creating a manpower shortage.

‘Still, I’m glad my senior is safe.’

Yoon Chan yawned and answered the phone.

“Yes, this is the neurosurgery resident room.”

-…….

“Yes. Patient number, please.”

Dada-dak.

Yoon Chan entered the patient number into the EMR (Electronic Medical Record) window with an indifferent face.

“……!”

Yoon Chan’s pupils widened as he listened to the nurse’s notification, his sleepiness vanishing instantly. The patient’s condition was extremely serious.

Click. Click.

Yoon Chan urgently examined the patient’s brain CT scan.

His jaw dropped so wide it hurt.

Goosebumps rose on his arms.

It was a miracle that the patient was still alive.

This was the first time he had encountered such an emergency patient while on call.

His mind went blank, and Yoon Chan didn’t remember what he said to the nurse or how he hung up the phone.

Dada-dak.

Yoon Chan ran madly to the on-call room.

Second-year resident Woo Hyun was lying on the first-floor bed, receiving an IV drip.

“Why are you making such a fuss?”

Woo Hyun looked up at Yoon Chan and asked.

“A super-emergency patient came to the emergency room. I don’t know what to do.”

“What kind of patient is so super-emergency?”

“You’ll be surprised when you hear it.”

“Wouldn’t it be faster for you to go down to the emergency room yourself instead of notifying me?”

Woo Hyun’s gaze was filled with disdain.

“Please just listen.”

Yoon Chan began to notify him rapidly. Woo Hyun’s expression, initially bland, gradually turned serious.

“Can our hospital operate on this patient? If possible, I’ll schedule the surgery; otherwise, transfer them to another hospital.”

“It’s ambiguous. I know Professor Shin’s surgery schedule is full today.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Yoon Chan checked the watch on his wrist and continued urgently.

“What should we do? Should we transfer them? We could get in trouble if we handle the patient incorrectly.”

Yoon Chan was skeptical about accepting the patient.

He understood the patient’s unfortunate situation, but the hospital also had its own circumstances.

Who would bear the responsibility if something went wrong after accepting a patient they couldn’t handle?

“Wait a minute. It’s too early to give up.”

“Isn’t giving up the fastest way?”

“You little punk. Always talking back.”

Woo Hyun continued calmly.

“First, contact Instructor Shin.”

“Ah… Instructor Shin is here. But isn’t Instructor Shin a pediatric neurosurgery specialist?”

“Of course.”

Yoon Chan’s face contorted at Woo Hyun’s answer.

Was he kidding right now?

“If you contact Instructor Shin, Instructor Shin will contact the savior again.”

“Who is the savior all of a sudden? Senior, you don’t even believe in religion.”

“There’s someone who believes fervently from today.”

“Who is it?”

“Director Seo Jun-hoo. He’s the savior of my life.”

* * *

“Director. The on-call resident just called again.”

“Yeah. Why?”

“They’re asking you to come to the emergency room, not the operating room.”

“If they ask me to go, I have to go. That’s good timing.”

Jun-hoo nodded.

He turned toward the escalator instead of the elevator.

“How’s the patient’s condition?”

“It’s… completely terrible.”

Ye-na replied with a dark face.

Skull fracture.

Brain edema [swelling] and brain herniation [when brain tissue shifts from its normal position].

Subarachnoid hemorrhage [bleeding in the space surrounding the brain] and intraparenchymal hemorrhage [bleeding within the brain tissue].

Even a cervical fracture [broken neck].

Every possible diagnosis for a head injury was present.

The condition of the waist was also dangerous.

The fractured fragments were on the verge of pressing down on the nerves.

“They asked me to see the patient, but I don’t think we can operate.”

“What’s the reason?”

“There’s only one professor in our neurosurgery department who specializes in pediatric neurosurgery. And that person is currently in surgery.”

Despair was plastered all over Ye-na’s face.

If the patient was an adult, Ye-na would have stubbornly insisted on surgery to save the patient.

But unfortunately, the patient was a child.

It was said to be a 7-year-old child.

Pediatric surgery is much more difficult and complicated than adult surgery.

If Ye-na operated on a child patient with such a serious condition, problems could arise.

Provide appropriate emergency care in the emergency room.

Send it to another university hospital for transfer.

That was Ye-na’s goal.

“Now there are two people. People who can operate on pediatric patients.”

“Yes? Is there someone else I don’t know about?”

“I’m here.”

Jun-hoo pointed to himself with his thumb.

Jun-hoo had also trained in pediatric neurosurgery through the Mayou Boost-Up Program.

Jun-hoo had even participated in the surgery to separate conjoined twins’ heads.

“Ah… I’m sorry. I forgot about you, Director.”

“It’s okay. There are many people who don’t know about the Boost-Up Program, and there are many people who don’t trust it.”

Jun-hoo shrugged his shoulders.

“Come to think of it, how did the patient get so seriously injured? The condition is so serious that I couldn’t ask about the circumstances of the injury.”

“It’s a fall.”

“A fall?”

“If it wasn’t a fall, they wouldn’t have been injured so seriously.”

Jun-hoo nodded in agreement.

Having seen so many trauma patients, Jun-hoo was able to grasp the circumstances of the patient’s injury in considerable detail just from the diagnosis.

In Jun-hoo’s mind, the image of the patient falling was already vividly drawn.

The fall was probably from around the second floor.

If it was higher than that, the patient would already be dead.

The emergency room arrived while they were talking.

Busan Shinwon University was also a university hospital, so the emergency room was crowded.

Patients and guardians were sitting in the waiting area, lined up like a snake.

The beds were almost full.

The staff were running busily around the beds.

Several 119 paramedics [Korean emergency services] were pulling stretchers into the emergency room.

A faint smell of blood wafted from somewhere.

There was also an urgent cry that CPR was needed.

The place that best suited the expression ‘living hell’ was the emergency room.

“Excuse me. Where is the neurosurgery emergency patient who just came in?”

“Go to bed number 10 in Zone A.”

“Thank you.”

Ye-na, who had heard the bed location from the nurse, took the lead, followed by Jun-hoo.

“Doctor. It’s here!”

The neurosurgery resident who found Ye-na and Jun-hoo waved his hand in the air.

Looking at the name on the employee ID card hanging around his neck, his name was Kang Yoon-chan.

“Has the situation changed? Notify me one more time.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

While Ye-na was listening to Yoon-chan’s notification,

Jun-hoo examined the guardian first.

The mother was standing next to the patient, fidgeting and shaking her legs. She looked at her daughter and then turned her gaze to Ye-na and Yoon-chan.

Now was the chance!

Jun-hoo approached the child’s bed.

Of course, the child was unconscious.

A bandage was wrapped around her head, and the temporal area of the bandage was soaked in red blood.

Jun-hoo looked around and placed his hand on the child’s head.

Woooong.

Woooong.

The internal energy drawn from the dantian [energy center in the body, according to traditional Chinese medicine] spread to the palm of his hand.

From the palm of his hand, it spread again to the child’s head.

Because he used the technique of Qigong [a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for health, spirituality, and martial-arts training].

The internal energy passed through the skull and meninges [membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord] and probed the brain.

‘The first surgery is not going to be easy.’

Jun-hoo bit his lip nervously.

The patient’s condition was deteriorating every moment.

From the beginning, he had no intention of sending the patient away, but it was not a situation where he could send the patient away.

In this state…….

By the time the patient arrived at another hospital in an ambulance and received surgery,

The patient’s intracranial pressure [pressure inside the skull] would explode.

The survival rate would be about 10 percent at best?

Even if they broke through that 10 percent probability, there was a high probability that permanent brain damage would remain.

The waist, like the head, was likely to become paralyzed if not operated on.

Therefore,

This child had to be operated on at Busan Shinwon University.

Pa-ba-ba-bat!

Jun-hoo first performed acupressure.

He compressed the blood vessels in the area where the bleeding occurred with internal energy.

The emergency treatment did not end there.

He gathered internal energy, made it into a solid ring shape, and blocked the torn or burst blood vessels.

It was not a fundamental treatment, but it was enough to prevent the patient’s condition from worsening.

It was for buying time.

And since time was gold, Jun-hoo had earned gold.

Gold called the patient’s life.

“Director. It’s true that the child fell.”

Ye-na said in admiration after listening to the notification.

Then she stared at the guardian.

“How did the child fall?”

“I was doing housework and looked away, and she fell while playing on the veranda… It’s all my fault.”

The guardian lowered her head with a painful expression.

“Oh, my… what an unfortunate thing… Director. Shall we proceed with the surgery as planned?”

“Of course.”

“Yoon-chan. Print out the surgical consent form and reserve the operating room immediately. Contact the anesthesiology department as well.”

“I have already printed out the consent form. I will go up to the operating room and prepare for the surgery.”

Yoon-chan handed the surgical consent form to Ye-na and left the ward like lightning.

Ye-na sat the guardian down on a chair and explained the contents of the consent form. The situation was so urgent that Ye-na’s explanation was like rap.

“Excuse me, Doctor. There’s something I want to tell you.”

The guardian hesitated with the pen in her hand.

Something was unusual.

“Please tell me quickly. Every second is urgent to save your daughter.”

“I…….”

“Yes. Please speak.”

Ye-na pounded her chest as if frustrated.

“I… believe in a religion called Holy Spirit. Our religion teaches that you shouldn’t have blood transfusions.”

“…….”

“They say that if other people’s blood is mixed, you can’t go to heaven after you die. Is it possible to have surgery without a blood transfusion?”

The guardian replied without giving in.

“Yes. That’s right. There is also bloodless surgery. But bloodless surgery is only possible if the situation is right.”

“What situation?”

“It means it’s difficult in an emergency situation like your daughter’s. If you’re going to have bloodless surgery, you have to schedule the surgery in advance, store your own blood, and follow other prior measures.”

“…….”

“You can’t do it suddenly like this. Do you understand?”

Ye-na’s voice, which had been gentle, turned aggressive. Her cheeks were also flushed red.

“Then I can’t consent to the surgery.”

“Your daughter could die if she doesn’t have surgery.”

“I’ll go to another hospital. Another hospital might do it.”

The guardian retorted in a cold and firm voice.

She still showed no signs of backing down.

Does this situation seem like a religious, or holy, struggle to her?

“There’s no time to transfer now. There’s no guarantee that another hospital will do it.”

“…….”

“What’s your blood type, Mother? It’s okay to transfuse family blood, right?”

“No. Not even family.”

“Ha… I’m going crazy.”

Ye-na finally spat out profanity. The situation was so crazy.

“What did you just say? Sh*t?”

“How can I not swear? It’s not someone else’s child, it’s your own daughter who’s about to die!”

Ye-na screamed.

“Dying in this world is not a big deal. Going to hell after death is a bigger deal.”

“Wow. Today is really the worst day of my life.”

“Let’s not argue with each other and pretend there was no surgery story.”

When the guardian stood up from her seat,

Jun-hoo, who had been silent until now, stepped forward.

Jun-hoo blocked the guardian’s path.

“Let’s proceed with your daughter’s surgery without a blood transfusion. Is that okay?”