Chapter 238: Arduous Surgical Training (Part 2 of 5)
“Only you could say such a thing,” Su Yun said disdainfully. “Are you aware of the academic ranking of Heidelberg University?”
“I couldn’t care less about the university’s ranking or the professor’s reputation. All that matters is the surgery,” Zheng Ren said calmly.
After that, he stood and grabbed the mouse.
He skipped to the 43 minute and 18 second mark in a single click.
“Here, Professor Rudolf Wagner did not proceed with superselective catheterization. Instead, he chose to embolize the branched arteriole of the bladder.” Zheng Ren pointed at the frozen frame. His face was stony, his tone serious.
“That’s a problem with the micro guide wire, not the technique,” Su Yun replied.
“Embolizing here would result in a high possibility that the embolic agent… let me put it this way: I think that there’s a 90% chance that it’ll cause backflow into the arteries of the bladder, resulting in ectopic embolism,” Zheng Ren said.
“There’s sufficient blood supply to the bladder due to the abundance of arteries. It won’t lead to tissue necrosis.”
“I know, but the patient will suffer from post-operative complications such as a weak bladder and urine retention.” Zheng Ren continued, “We won’t know how long these symptoms will last. I’ve read the patient’s records. He’s elderly—a 78-year-old male. At that age, it takes a long time for the body to rebuild its capillary network.”
Su Yun listened and considered Zheng Ren’s thoughts carefully. It was one of the rare occasions where he did not manage a snarky remark.
“That’s why I think Professor Rudolf Wagner did a sloppy job. The prostate’s function might improve after surgery, but he’ll suffer from more bladder problems.” Zheng Ren rapped his knuckles on the screen and continued, “It’s worth discussing Professor Rudolf Wagner’s surgery, but honestly speaking, I consider it a failure.”
Su Yun stared at Zheng Ren standing on the stage. Even though the doctor was very young, each word he spoke was full of vim and confidence, and this persisted in his criticism of the surgery done by top surgeon Professor Rudolf Wagner from the world-renowned Heidelberg University.
It was as if he was just a.n.a.lyzing another surgeon’s work with no fear or stress at all.
Did those who know nothing fear nothing?
Had Su Yun not had his long conversation with Zheng Ren in the noodle house earlier, he would probably have thought so. However, Su Yun had an entirely different impression of Zheng Ren after that.
Nothing truly changed throughout the ages.
Zheng Ren had said that very statement earlier. Could anything faze him?
Impossible.
It dawned on Su Yun that Zheng Ren would say this only if he had utter confidence in himself.
Even if Su Yun considered Professor Rudolf Wagner a truly great professor, Zheng Ren did not necessarily share that opinion.
He had some catching up to do to be Zheng Ren’s perfect a.s.sistant, Su Yun mused.
“Can you perfect the surgery?” he asked calmly.
“I don’t know.” Zheng Ren shook his head. “There’s always a chance as long as you try.”
Su Yun lowered his head slightly, his fringe swaying in the air, reflecting his emotions.
They turned off the video player and the lights before leaving for their hostel.
Their walk back was silent, different thoughts weighing on their mind.
At the hostel, Zheng Ren quickly washed up before laying down onto his bed.
As usual, Xie Yiren had messaged him on WeChat. Zheng Ren replied with a simple text before entering the System with a heavy heart.
Recently, Zheng Ren had rarely gotten the chance to enter the System. He seemed busier in Imperial Capital than he was in the emergency department of Sea City.
There had been a major revamp in the System throughout this period. Zheng Ren could not quite put his finger on what had changed, but its color palette seemed much more vibrant than before, especially on the white fox statue in front of the shed. It looked ready to spring to life.
Zheng Ren did not waste any time, immediately going over his recent rewards and skill tree.
He had accomplished the Indestructible Trust mission before coming to Imperial Capital, and then three other missions after he had arrived, which were Together We Stand, Help A Man In Need, and The First Stage of The Great Beginning.
There were two golden chests in his inventory.
He had acc.u.mulated a total of 4 days and 6 hours of surgical training, along with 324,000 experience points and 814 unused skill points.
In addition, he had been awarded two Advanced-level mastery books.
On his skill tree,urological surgery had 5,000 skill points, general surgery had 5,112, while interventional radiology surgery had surged to 6,788 points.
Zheng Ren recalled having performed a total of 12 interventional surgeries since he came to the Imperial City!
Other than the hepatocellular carcinoma embolization surgery, there had been an ophthalmic artery dredge and 5 embolizations for small hepatocellular carcinoma nodules.
The increment should not have been so drastic. Why had this happened?
Zheng Ren thought for several minutes concluding that the System had likely recognized small hepatocellular carcinoma nodule embolization as a new technique, which contributed to the extra skill points.
It was definitely a large increase.
Zheng Ren felt much more confident after looking at his stats.
There was a difference between Novice and Graduate mastery level. Zheng Ren summed up his points and purchased four hours of surgical time from the System’s Shop.
With a thought, the System’s operating theater emerged from the ground along with a subject lying on the table. The 64-slice CT scan with the 3D-image reconstruction of that subject was uploaded to his mind.
This time, Zheng Ren did not have his a.s.sistant beside him, but he was also used to performing the surgery alone.
Prostate interventional embolization was no easy task, which was why Zheng Ren had four hours for his first attempt.
He could even perform gastrointestinal surgery within the allocated time, but at this point, he had no room for hesitation.
The surgery did not go smoothly. However, due to the fact that Zheng Ren had a preliminary framework, he was able to overcome one obstacle after another.
Even though the System’s surgery did not include the preoperative preparations and postoperative care, it still took Zheng Ren three and a half hours.
Its completion status was only at 70%.
When the theater vanished, Zheng Ren did not immediately proceed to the next surgery.
Prostate interventional embolization was different from other forms of general surgery, which was Zheng Ren’s specialization. He had all the theories memorized; all he lacked was the practice.
However, n.o.body in the world had any idea how to carry out this procedure.
Not only did Zheng Ren lack the practical skill, he was missing its theoretical foundation.
He stole a glance at the interventional surgery skillset and was shocked to find that the prostate interventional embolization had earned him 488 skill points.
Did the novelty of the procedure play a part in the increment? Zheng Ren was puzzled.
He sat by the System’s pond and fell into deep thought, staring at the gentle ripples on its surface while his mind drifted off to the capillary network and arteriole branches around the prostate.
What could he do to perfect this procedure?
After thinking for a long time, Zheng Ren finally stood.
The System’s operating theater emerged from the ground once more and Zheng Ren began to operate.
After each surgery, he spent a long time thinking. As each surgery became faster as time went on, he took longer and longer to proceed to the next one.
After more than ten surgeries, Zheng Ren had successfully cut back his surgery time to below three hours with an average completion rate of 85%.
The arduous surgical training continued…