A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 499

무공 쓰는 외과 의사 499화

제97장 야무진 꿈(5)

“Chief. Who contacted you?”

Jeong Ji-hoon asked Jun-hoo with a polite voice.

The two were hurrying to the operating room.

Since the surgery preparation would take some time, Jun-hoo had no reason to use his movement technique this time.

“I got a call from the emergency room.”

“Is that so? I didn’t contact you, though….”

“I figured. The person I planted called. I told them to call me if there was a problem with the hand surgery department.”

“Pla… planted?”

Surprised, Jeong Ji-hoon’s eyes widened.

Was he just imaginative?

He seemed to be thinking of spies or secret agents.

Jun-hoo simply smiled.

“There’s a professor in the emergency medicine department. We were in the same class in medical school.”

“Don’t tell me you have ambitions to take over the hospital with invisible hands?”

“Stop watching so many dramas and movies.”

Before Jeong Ji-hoon’s imagination could run wild, Jun-hoo flicked Jeong Ji-hoon’s head with his finger.

As far as Jun-hoo knew.

The surgery department at Busan Shinwon University Hospital was weak.

To be precise, it was suffering from a chronic shortage of manpower.

The reason was…….

The hospital director.

Since surgery was relatively unprofitable, he had drastically reduced the size of the surgery department overall.

The hand surgery department was one of the victims.

Jun-hoo couldn’t help other surgical departments because they weren’t his specialty, but the hand surgery department was different.

As a sub-specialty branching out from neurosurgery, he could provide plenty of support.

If he obtained licenses as a specialist in neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery, he could apply for a sub-specialty in hand surgery.

“I was a little embarrassed, but I feel so reassured that you came, Chief.”

“Oh, you can even give lip service?”

“Lip service? I’m serious!”

Jeong Ji-hoon jumped up and said.

The moment Jun-hoo appeared, there was clearly a brilliant glow behind him.

Jeong Ji-hoon saw that light clearly.

To him, Jun-hoo was a savior.

“Actually, it’s not that I didn’t think of you, Chief… but you’re so busy these days. I felt reluctant to contact you.”

“Still, you should contact me. There might be days like today.”

“Yes. Thank you so much, Chief.”

Jeong Ji-hoon bowed deeply to express his gratitude.

‘Should I create a system now? How long can I last with the current method…….’

Jun-hoo’s eyes grew heavy with worry.

Here, there, and everywhere.

There was a limit to helping other doctors or other departments like Hong Gil-dong [a Korean folk hero known for his Robin Hood-like activities], appearing and disappearing unpredictably.

No matter how much martial arts he had learned, Jun-hoo only had one body.

He wasn’t a quantum in quantum mechanics, and he couldn’t perform the miracle of being in operating room 3 and operating room 4 at the same time.

Even in the current situation.

If he hadn’t taken the time for the Jewon University Hospital tour, this patient wouldn’t have been able to receive surgery.

He would have just gone around the hospital in circles and lost his toe in vain, missing the golden time [critical window for successful treatment].

The master decided to reform the medical system, and I should at least reform the hospital system.

To do that, I’ll have to become the hospital director.

When I become the hospital director.

First, I’ll overhaul the surgery department.

Holding a secret ambition that others could never know, Jun-hoo hurried his steps.

The operating room was just around the corner.

* * *

The door to operating room 9 opened automatically with a buzzing sound.

White disinfectant smoke poured down from the ceiling.

It looked like fire extinguisher smoke.

As always, the air in the operating room was cool. It had a knack for making the staff nervous and eerie.

When he inhaled.

The pungent smell of alcohol stung his nose.

The operating table was thirty steps ahead.

The shadowless light illuminated the operating table brilliantly.

Perhaps that’s why.

Jun-hoo had thought for a long time.

Maybe life is just a short play.

Jun-hoo might be the playwright of that play.

Whether the patient’s play would end in comedy.

Or tragedy depended solely on Jun-hoo’s fingertips.

“Vitals okay?”

“Yes. Everything is normal. The electrocardiogram and oxygen saturation are also normal.”

The scrub nurse replied.

“I would have cried if it wasn’t.”

Jun-hoo joked and stood at the surgeon’s position. Unlike usual, he was positioned at the lower end of the bed.

Since the surgery area was the toe, the scrub nurse stood to Jun-hoo’s left.

Jeong Ji-hoon stood opposite him.

That was all the staff.

Replantation surgery was difficult, but the number of staff involved in the surgery was surprisingly smaller than in general surgery.

One reason was that it was difficult to find skilled staff.

Another reason was that the surgery tempo was slow because meticulous treatment was essential, so a large number of people were not needed.

Jun-hoo stared at the child’s face.

The child was fast asleep.

Because he had been given general anesthesia.

Usually, amputation surgery does not use general anesthesia to check the patient’s overall sensation.

But there are always exceptions.

It was too harsh to force adult surgery on a child.

If he watched the replantation surgery with a clear mind, the child would suffer from painful trauma for the rest of his life.

“Shall we look at the toe again?”

“Yes. Chief.”

The scrub nurse handed Jun-hoo the plastic bag containing the toe.

Jun-hoo’s eyes narrowed.

“The guardian said they kept the toe directly on ice, right?”

Jun-hoo asked Jeong Ji-hoon.

“Yes. It seems like it was exposed for almost an hour. I’m worried that it will be contaminated due to the moisture and that the tissue will freeze.”

“Hmm…… It doesn’t look very good to me either.”

Earthworm wrinkles formed on Jun-hoo’s forehead [expression of worry or concern].

The earthworms wriggled.

“Didn’t you say it was okay earlier and that we should operate right away?”

“My thoughts haven’t changed. To be specific, it meant that it was quite precarious to perform the surgery.”

“Ah…… I see.”

“Have you ever assisted with toe replantation surgery?”

“I’ve only done it once, last year. There aren’t many patients with toe amputations.”

“I guess so.”

Jun-hoo deliberately dragged out unnecessary conversations.

It was to have time to recover the toe.

Jun-hoo was stimulating the Hyeonji blood point [acupressure point] on the big toe with the tip of his fingernail without the staff knowing.

The Hyeonji blood point was a blood point located between the tip of the toenail and the toe joint.

First, the blood had to live for the toe to live.

At the same time as stimulating the blood.

Jun-hoo also infused internal energy into the toe.

He aimed to subtly melt the tissues that had been damaged by direct contact with the ice.

“Chief. Is it just my imagination?”

“What is?”

“It seems like the toe is suddenly getting bloodshot? It seems to be turning reddish.”

Whether he had good observation skills.

Jeong Ji-hoon quickly noticed the change in the toe.

“It seems like the sky is helping our surgery.”

Jun-hoo glossed over it.

Anyway, it was impossible for Jeong Ji-hoon to realize that Jun-hoo had recovered the toe with blood point technique and internal energy.

“I will now begin the big toe replantation surgery.”

Jun-hoo’s cry spread out clearly.

At that moment, the staff’s eyes shone with determination.

The slightly bent waist also straightened up.

Prior to the full-scale surgery.

The scrub nurse received the toe from Jun-hoo. He placed the toe on the surgical support plate.

Jun-hoo put his eyes on the micro microscope. He carefully examined the toe on the support plate.

“Wow. Is this really going to be okay? Isn’t this like finding a star in the Seoul night sky [extremely difficult task]?”

Jeong Ji-hoon groaned from across.

Jeong Ji-hoon was also examining the toe with a micro microscope.

The more he looked at the toe.

Only sighs came out.

The highlight of replantation surgery was, without a doubt, vascular and nerve anastomosis [surgical connection].

But there was something else that was just as important…….

It was finding damaged blood vessels and nerves.

Numerous blood vessels and nerves were cut off and hidden due to the impact from the outside.

Only by finding them all one by one.

Successful replantation surgery was possible.

To make an analogy, it was the same principle as being able to complete a puzzle only after collecting all the puzzle pieces.

But in Jeong Ji-hoon’s eyes.

The blood vessels and nerves needed for replantation were not easily visible.

Partly because the child was still young.

Also, because the blood vessels and nerves were less developed.

Another big reason was that the amputation surface was crooked because the toe was cut off on the escalator.

“Chief. Can I increase the magnification of the micro microscope to the maximum?”

“You’ll have to. Increase it slowly. You’ll probably have to go to the maximum magnification.”

“Yes. Chief.”

Jun-hoo’s permission was given.

Beep beep beep.

Jeong Ji-hoon turned the circular dial on the microscope upwards. The magnification, which was 15x, gradually increased to the maximum of 25x.

The higher the magnification, the more detailed the scenery of the amputation site became.

To use an analogy with 2D games.

It was like the appearance of a 2D character gradually shrinking and eventually appearing as dots.

‘That’s strange. What happened? There is surprisingly little cell damage.’

Jeong Ji-hoon was secretly surprised.

Clearly, the guardian kept the patient’s toe directly on ice.

He made a mistake that violated the golden rule of storing the amputation site.

But even so.

The tissues seen through the micro microscope were much better than expected. At this level, surgery was possible.

Not ‘success’ but ‘possible’.

I wonder if the chief will be okay?

If this surgery fails, the media will pour out harsh words saying that I was caught.

Jeong Ji-hoon took his eyes off the micro microscope for a moment.

He glanced at Jun-hoo.

After examining the patient’s toe with a micro microscope, Jeong Ji-hoon’s confidence plummeted instead.

Arteries, veins, nerves.

The main replantation sites were crooked in the form of ‘∧∨∧∨’. This meant that the sutures had to be performed abnormally according to that shape.

Even general replantation surgery is difficult enough to cause dizziness and nausea.

The reality of having to irregularly suture a toe, not a finger, was cruel and harsh.

“Don’t space out and concentrate on the surgery.”

“Yes…… Yes!”

Jeong Ji-hoon came to his senses at Jun-hoo’s cold scolding.

Meanwhile, Jun-hoo was carefully identifying the locations of the arteries, veins, and nerves that needed to be replanted through the micro microscope.

The situation was darker than expected.

But a true surgeon should not only follow the light but also know how to create light.

And for Jun-hoo.

That light was martial arts.

Jun-hoo burst the internal energy that had been pooling in his dantian [energy center in the body] and sent it flowing throughout his body.

He unfolded the Myriad Image Divine Skill, which amplified the five senses.

And made multitasking possible.

Then, the senses became so sensitive that even the wind blowing on the leaves was painful.

With forceps in both hands.

Jun-hoo stretched out the arteries, blood vessels, and nerves that were curled inward or drooping.

The number was easily over 20.

It meant that a difficult road was ahead.

“Ji-hoon, align the toe bones in parallel, and teacher, give me the wire.”

“Yes. Chief.”

“Yes. Chief.”

A thin wire was in Jun-hoo’s hand.

“It’s not parallel. It’s crooked.”

“Is it okay now?”

“A little more to the left.”

“Is it…… now.”

“Good. Don’t shake your hands and maintain that state.”

Jun-hoo drew a zigzag (之) with wire on the bones that were tightly attached to each other. He cut the wire once and drew another zigzag in reverse.

Finishing with a noose knot.

This was not a typical wire fixation technique.

It was the knot tying technique (結草術) [Gyeolcho Technique], a binding technique used in the martial arts world to tie up the hands of enemies.

With the minimum rope length.

It was a knot tying technique that boasted the highest strength.

“Let go.”

Jun-hoo touched the replanted bone with forceps.

The replantation site was fixed without shaking or gaps.

“Something…… It looks like you just wrapped the wire around, but it’s incredibly strong?”

“That’s right. I initially misunderstood that you were joking, Chief.”

Jeong Ji-hoon and the scrub nurse simultaneously exclaimed in admiration.

The patient monitoring device added a beat with a beep, beep, beep.

But it was too early to be surprised.

This replantation surgery was a formidable opponent.

And Jun-hoo had to receive the help of martial arts throughout the surgery.

There were mountains of difficult moments.

There were also mountains of miraculous treatments.