The Surgeon's Studio

Despite knowing the ins and outs of the case, Chang Yue asked Zheng Ren, “Chief Zheng, what are the tests to be scheduled?”

It was a show of respect to the lead surgeon.

More importantly, a second pair of eyes could help spot mistakes. It would not do if the surgery had to be stopped or postponed because of a silly mistake.

“Standard blood work, a coagulation factors test, a liver function test, an electrocardiogram, and a 64-slice CT scan should be sufficient. Call me when you’re heading to the CT room, I’ll get the doctor to have a look at her lungs,” Zheng Ren said.

“She’ll be going through another embolization?” Chang Yue asked.

Zheng Ren thought for a moment, then said, “We’ll run through the checks first. If everything is good, we can perform a radiofrequency ablation.”

His words caught Su Yun’s attention.

“Boss, when did you learn that?” Su Yun questioned.

“I saw it once and that was enough,” Zheng Ren quoted Su Yun’s usual boast.

With the Internet, it was easy to get a hold of surgery footage, especially when one had contacts in larger hospitals.

Su Yun did not doubt Zheng Ren’s method, but he was not impressed by the answer.

Professor Rudolf chimed in with his Northeastern Mandarin, “Boss, are you performing a radiofrequency ablation on this big sister?”

The foreign professor’s local slang took Zheng Yunxia by surprise.

“Yes.” Zheng Ren nodded.

Radiofrequency ablation was a minimally-invasive procedure to treat localized tumors. The procedure was preferred when treating primary liver cancer.

For tumors with a diameter of 3cm of less, radiofrequency ablation had a 70% chance of killing all the cancer cells. The treatment efficiency was on par with that of a surgical excision.

Surgical excisions involving the liver were considered major surgeries. Therefore, as surgical procedures improved alongside technological advancement, doctors aimed to reduce the incision wound and minimize damage to the patient’s body.

In radiofrequency ablation, the patient was required to undergo local anesthesia. The CT scan would determine the needle’s point of entry and after 15 minutes of ablation, the treatment would be complete.

The patient would feel mild pain during the procedure but, in most cases, it was bearable. An additional dose of intramuscular pain relief could be administered to patients with lower pain tolerance.

The patient can get out of bed after six hours of rest and resume normal activity on the second day. The negative effects on liver function were lesser than an interventional procedure.

Radiofrequency ablation was a way to cure liver cancer.

However, due to its strict criteria, the procedure could only be employed against certain tumors. Nonetheless, the procedure had been tried and tested many times in medical history.

The progress of clinical research brought many changes to the field of medicine and surgery. Improvements were constantly being made to treatments and procedures for the sake of patients.

In the future, hepatic lobectomy would slowly disappear from a hospital’s repertoire.

The procedure would only be used in the case of severe liver trauma, but for liver cancer treatment, interventional embolization and radiofrequency ablation would be better suited for the task.

Zheng Ren spent some time thinking. There was only a simple description for Zheng Yunxia’s illness in the System’s display. Based on his assessment, Zheng Ren believed she would be eligible for radiofrequency ablation treatment this round.

Similar to a lobectomy, they would hope to see a stop in the spread of the metastatic carcinomatosis cirrhosis after the radiofrequency ablation. If there was no relapse, they would have successfully saved Zheng Yunxia’s life.

Radiofrequency ablation…

Zheng Ren got his phone out and dialed a number.

“Director Zhang, hello.

“Yes. I have informed Chief Pan of my absence and would like to perform a few procedures in the coming few days. Are your staff free to entertain me?

“About ten or so, I’m sure the Secondary Hospital does not lack patients. We can lower the fee, but I worry about the hospital’s capacity for post-surgery care and treatment…

“Okay. Yes, of course. We’ll meet soon then.”

The call ended.

Su Yun frowned at Zheng Ren. The man’s thoughts jumped from one topic to another without any rhyme or reason.

“Lil Fugui, hang back for a while later. We’ll be going to the Secondary Hospital to perform some TIPS surgeries tomorrow. They have a courier coming over with the scans,” Zheng Ren said to Professor Rudolf Wagner, ignoring the odd look Su Yun was shooting him.

“Aight, sir. How many surgeries?” the professor replied.

“Around ten.”

The professor gesticulated wildly.

Ten TIPS surgeries in a day would be considered unimaginable, even in Heidelberg University.

Professor Rudolf never would have thought he would witness such a feat in a small, secluded city in faraway China.

Once all the arrangements were made, Zheng Ren waited in the office for the courier to arrive.

He had a book open on his table, but his mind was occupied with the radiofrequency ablation procedure.

One of the mission rewards offered by the System was a +2 success rate for interventional surgeries. Zheng Ren had no idea what that meant and, without any explanation from the System, he could only make an educated guess.

Radiofrequency ablation was classified as an interventional surgery. Therefore, his Grandmaster rank allowed him to skip the training modules.

Once he completed the mission, the System would grant him the experience of 3,000 radiofrequency ablation procedures. That would give him a significant boost.

The increased success rate was more ambiguous. Zheng Ren tried his best to decipher what it meant.

However, at this rate, he figured he should just wait until he completed the mission and see for himself.

Half an hour later, a knock came from the office door.

Zheng Ren raised his head and saw a plump man at the door. “I’m looking for Chief Zheng.”

The man had some printed radiographs tucked underneath his arm. It had to be the courier from the Secondary Hospital.

The courier arrived earlier than Zheng Ren expected. It seemed having the supervisory deputy director of the Secondary Hospital, Director Zhang, on the project made things efficient.

“I’m here,” Zheng Ren called out.

The plump courier bowed. He wore a warm smile as he approached.

“Chief Zheng, Director Zhang wanted me to pass you these.”

“Yes, thank you for your effort. Have a seat,” Zheng Ren bade.

Professor Rudolf inched closer to Zheng Ren’s table.

After two whole days of research and study, the professor had a deeper understanding of the TIPS procedure. Hence, he was the only other person who was as excited as Zheng Ren to go to the Secondary Hospital.

The courier did not sit. Instead, he kept his head bowed in respect to Zheng Ren.

The gesture went unnoticed by Zheng Ren as he took the bag and proceeded to look through the scans.

The bag contained the diffusion-weighted scans of the patients and other records and reports.

Director Zhang was generous in his sharing and Zheng Ren was grateful for that.

A brief look through one of the patient’s records told him it was a case of decompensated cirrhosis with ascites.

Two months ago, the patient was admitted due to hematemesis. The hospital managed to keep him alive.

However, with symptoms such as hematemesis and ascites, the patient’s life was constantly in danger.

One successful emergency rescue did not guarantee a similar result the second time around.

“Lil Fugui, what do you think?” Zheng Ren asked.

Professor Rudolf Wagner studied the scan and reports. “The patient exhibits clear indications for operative treatment. Their stable condition is optimal for surgery. Boss, we might have rushed it with the previous patient. This one is a better candidate.”

The neglected courier tried his best to hold his smile.