Once Choi Hoo opened up the head and started slicing the brain, there would be no time to stay here.
“I will do it.”
Taking out the gauze placed in the abdominal area, he quickly looked inside.
Blood spurted out like a fountain.
“Perforation! In the large intestine!”
Dowook held new gauze and tamped it above the large intestine.
“This can’t be stopped with just gauze packing. I will suture it with GIA.”
By picking up the perforated large intestine with an automatic anastomosis machine, the amount of blood filling the abdominal cavity was reduced.
Chief Ji’s expression softened after seeing the quick judgment and action.
“I really didn’t see anything wrong a while ago. Cut out the necrotic part and just cover the fragmented intestine. Do you know what that means?”
Chief Ji asked a question about the serious emergency response. Dowook answered while scraping out the necrotic tissue.
“It’s just first aid to keep the patient breathing. Difficult surgery aimed at restoring function is the responsibility of the secondary surgery team.
Seemingly liking the answer, Chief Ji’s eyes flashed with satisfaction.
Dowook looked at the tissue of the large intestine and let go as soon as he saw that he got everything.
This was because Prof. Choi, who had finished removing part of the skull, began examining the damaged brain dura mater.
Tingle.
It was time to change to another sense.
The brain, which was neatly exposed by Prof. Choi, had swelled up as if it was about to pop out of the skull, showing the seriousness of the case.
“I will remove the hematoma.”
As soon as Dowook approached Prof. Choi, he grabbed the primer for the puncture in his hand. It was difficult to find the location of the pooled blood in the swollen brain.
“What about the microscope? We can’t see both places at the same time.”
“I won’t touch Prof. Choi’s hands even with it. Shall we proceed?”
“Proceed.”
The surgery to remove the torn tissue from the neck and the surgery to remove the accumulated blood from the brain that was causing brain edema were performed together.
As if a person had 4 hands, a surgery with 0% mistake continued without another word.
The patient was in danger, but the operating room had a very comfortable and strange atmosphere.
The one who broke the silence was Chief Ji who was blocking the hole in the lungs.
“The crushed ribs are tearing the arteries. We have to connect the blood vessels.”
Dowook glanced at the video that appeared on the endoscope equipment and asked Prof. Choi.
“Can I leave here for a while?”
Prof. Choi, who looked at the screen as well, answered.
“Go. If it gets more torn, the blood won’t reach the brain, either.”
“Yes, sir.”
Threading a custom suture to a needle, Dowook passed it to Chief Ji and stopped. He thought that with Prof. Choi’s sharp sense, he could sew it better than Chief Ji could.
“Can I do it?”
“Have you sutured a cardiovascular artery before?”
“No. But I think it should be easier than the soft tissue of the blood vessels in the brain.”
“Ha. That’s crazy reasoning, but true. Then I’ll keep working on the holes in the lungs. I’ll buy you some time.”
Dowook inserted a pair of tweezers and grabbed the artery Chief Ji had found. He picked up a needle with a tweezer in his other hand.
“I’ll start the anastomosis.”
[TN: Anastomosis-An anastomosis is a surgical connection between two structures]
The endoscopic image showed the tweezers and needle move around the artery as if they were dancing.
Kim Seong Tae, who was spraying water next to Prof. Choi, looked at the screen and was shocked. The senior who was only two years ahead of him showed incredible skill.
Finishing the suture easily, Dowook returned to Prof. Choi’s side.
“I’ve returned.”
Prof. Choi didn’t say anything and simply stretched out his hand. The movement seemed to show that he would obviously return at this time. Dowook quickly grabbed a pair of thin scissors and passed it to him.
Again, one person gained 4 hands.
A portion of the severely damaged brain tissue was removed, followed by elaborate sutures. In line with the professor’s work, Dowook continued to provide machine-like assistance to minimize the aftereffects of surgery.
As they were thinking the surgery was going smoothly.
Chief Ji frowned as he continued conservative treatment from the lungs to the heart.
“I haven’t stopped all the bleeding, but the heartbeat is too strong. Something is strange.”
The moment he finished speaking, the vital monitor turned red and rang in warning.
An Hosan hurriedly yelled.
“High blood pressure!”
The weakened cerebrovascular tissue tore. It was a painful sudden variable that would surely lead to brain death.
Dowook instinctively accepted Chief Ji’s sense.
He fumbled over the cart, held a blood vessel clip in his hand, and picked up two torn blood vessels at once to prevent massive cerebral hemorrhage. It was really a lightning-fast movement.
Prof. Choi looked at Dowook’s fingers with interest and said.
“Go. I’ll take care of that blood vessel.”
In a critical situation, Prof. Choi’s hands became bolder.
Standing by Chief Ji’s side, Dowook looked in the chest cavity.
While examining the liver, spleen, and pancreas, his eyes stopped on the crushed left kidney. An organ that was already unable to properly function. The blood flow was completely messed up as the heart continued to pump blood to it.
Chief Ji also found the problem’s cause and traded a look with Dowook.
“Conservative treatment seems impossible here.”
“Are you suggesting nephrectomy?” [T/N: nephrectomy=kidney removal.]
“We should try to save him even like that.”
“I agree. Let’s do it.”
An Hosan, who had been focusing on the vital monitor, had a glint of fear in his eyes as he listened to their conversation. They even had to do a nephrectomy with so few people, this was quite a frightening situation.
Dowook brought out Prof. Choi’s sense again to help with the extraction.
“Starting the nephrectomy.”
A continuous situation where one couldn’t lose vigilance even for a second. This was more like a warzone than any operation Dowook had participated in.
After finishing the renal extraction in 10 minutes, Dowook helped graft the abdominal fat in the area where the cerebral fluid had been spilled right away.
Even during the break where the titanium plate to replace the broken skull was being prepared, he helped in the conservative treatment of stopping the bleeding in the ruptured organs.
‘Next? What’s next?’
Dowook couldn’t remember whose sense he was using anymore.
How much time has passed?
Prof. Choi closed the head and Chief Ji closed the chest.
“The patient is in good condition. I will put him in the ICU like this.”
An Hosan’s confident voice rang through the operating room.
“Dr. Dowook. Stop. it’s over.”
“What?”
Dropping his hands which were soaked in the patient’s blood, Dowook looked around the operating room.
Start: 11:30, End: 12:28
It was a miraculous emergency surgery performed in just under an hour.
Dowook exhaustedly sat on the floor.
Because he kept exchanging senses, his body felt like he was being electrified.
Removing his hands from the patient and taking a step back, Prof. Choi turned to look at Chief Ji.
“I think we’ve prevented brain death. What about on your side?”
“He’s still breathing. You’ve worked hard, Prof. Choi.”
“That’s not something that should be said to me.”
At Prof. Choi’s reply, Chief Ji turned his gaze to the cart which Dowook, who was almost passed out, was leaning on.
“About that guy. If he grows well, he can probably save numerous people. I’m looking forward to his future. Can I call him over every once in a while?”
“As long as it doesn’t mess with my schedule.”
“You always mess with the other professors, so why can’t I mess with you?”
“Being messed with doesn’t feel good.”
Chief Ji left the operating room after sending him a look saying, ‘So you act like that when you know that?’ Prof. Choi quietly watched Chief Ji leave and walked over to Dowook.
“Dr. Park.”
“Yes, profe….ack.”
Dowook wanted to stand up but was surprised to find he couldn’t move.
“Just stay seated.”
“Yes, professor.”
“When you schedule my surgery starting next week, make it so that you and I take turns as the main surgeon. You can do more complicated surgeries if you think you can.”
“Yes, I understand.”
He answered reflexively as he looked at Prof. Choi’s leave. Then he recalled the instruction he had just received.
‘Did he just tell me to do half of the surgeries assigned to him?’
Crash!
The patient’s body jumped up and down from the bed as 300 Joules of electricity shocked them. Seong Chang Soo’s CPR continued as everyone’s eyes remained on the electrocardiogram.
“Beat, please!”
The red liquid pooled like a puddle on the surrounding floor was blood this patient had been transfused with for the fifth time. The same amount of liquid was being poured back into the patient.
Oxygenation, chest compressions, blood transfusions.
Again and again.
This life-and-death cycle could no longer be broken by a doctor’s treatment.
Seong Chang Soo’s eyes turned to the pale face of the male student lying on the bed.
There was no more movement on the electrocardiogram. Another doctor grabbed Seong Chang Soo’s shoulder.
“Dr. Seong. That’s enough.”
“Yeah. We’ve tried everything we could.”
The faces of the other doctors who also worked to save the patient showed a complicated expression.
“D*mn it.”
Letting out a short sigh, Seong Chang Soo put more force in his hands in dissatisfaction.
“Live, you brat!”
Beep.
The graph on the ECG monitor jumped.
“What?”
The heart of the patient who experienced four cardiac arrests resumed activity. The patient was also persistently holding onto life.
“It’s back! It came back!”
Seong Chang Soo yelled in happiness.
After a long CPR, Seong Chang Soo retreated from the bed, kneeling down and rubbing his arms. Blood soaked his pants, but it wasn’t something he was worried about.
He tried to catch his breath from a position he could resume CPR at any time should an arrest come.
“Chang Soo.”
When he turned his head to the familiar voice, Dowook was there. Wearing an operating gown with still wet blood. His friend’s struggle could be seen at a glance.
“You were in surgery?”
“Yeah.”
Dowook sat beside him. Seong Chang Soo spoke in a weak voice.
“You should rest if you’re done with your surgery.”
“They said this patient is the last one. When I heard that, somehow I couldn’t rest.”
“How sentimental.”
“I don’t think it’s just me.”
Dozens of medical staff were voluntarily waiting to protect the only patient who was unable to enter the stable zone.
A reliable number of doctors that most omens of death would not be able to scoff at. That patient would live. For certain.
Seong Chang Soo smiled slightly.
“Dowook, was this job this great?”
“What great? You’ll be on duty after a while. Change at dawn, good luck.”
“F*ck.”
The emergency center that had resembled a battlefield slowly calmed down as the night turned to dawn.
—–
sync : ‘Ji Hwi-gwan’s’ surgery skill
action : become a master of severe trauma treatment. Your hands and eyes will try their best to deal with the situation. The desire to save everyone is a bonus.
