57: Chapter 57 The surgery is scheduled for 4:30 PM. Please get ready.
2:30 PM.
Lu Chen returned to the Red Zone and continued with the work at hand.
He didn't show any anxiety or nervousness.
He performed Suturing and physical examinations as usual, no different from any other day.
Shen Xiaoning ran over from the Yellow Zone in the afternoon, claiming to deliver water, but she had actually heard the news during the rounds.
Information always travels at an astonishing speed in the Hospital.
"Dr. Lu, I heard you might be going to the General Surgery Department for a surgery this afternoon?"
"Depends on the CT results."
"Are you nervous?"
"No."
"Really?"
"Really."
Shen Xiaoning looked into his eyes and confirmed that he truly wasn't nervous.
She bit her lip.
"Then good luck, I believe in you."
"Mm."
...
3:15 PM.
Deputy Director Qin's call came through to Director Li Sen's phone.
Director Li Sen finished the call and walked up to Lu Chen.
"The CT results are out."
"What do they say?"
"The Contrast-enhanced CT shows appendix swelling, lumen dilation, blurring of the surrounding fat space, a small amount of exudate around the appendix, and the appendix is in a retrocecal position."
Lu Chen nodded.
"Confirmed?"
"Confirmed, Acute exacerbation of chronic appendicitis."
Lu Chen's expression didn't change at all.
As expected.
The system's [Eye of Truth] had never been wrong.
"Deputy Director Qin said the surgery is scheduled for 4:30 PM, get ready."
"Okay."
"He has already sent out the notice for the Department-wide observation."
Director Li Sen looked at Lu Chen.
"Do you have any other questions?"
"No."
"Then go ahead, I'll wait for you outside the Operating Room."
"Director, you're not joining the surgery?"
"Why would I? This is a General Surgery Department patient, being operated on in their Operating Room. They'll arrange their own First assistant and Nurses; it would be inconvenient for me to go in."
"So you mean, I'm going in alone?"
"Didn't you say you didn't need a safety net?"
Lu Chen was stunned for a moment.
"Fine, I'll do it alone."
"Don't force it. Deputy Director Qin will naturally arrange for someone to keep an eye on things. Just perform as you usually do."
Director Li Sen turned and left after saying that.
He stopped after a couple of steps.
"By the way, do a good job. Don't embarrass me."
...
4:00 PM sharp.
Lu Chen changed into his surgical scrubs and walked into the hallway of the General Surgery Department's Operating Room.
This was his first time entering the General Surgery Department's Operating Room area.
Quite a few people were already standing outside the observation window.
Deputy Director Qin was true to his word and had indeed arranged for a Department-wide observation.
In the hallway, General Surgery Department doctors, Nurses, Resident Trainees, and even a few Visiting Doctors in white coats stood in small groups.
Altogether, there must have been over thirty people.
Some people were whispering.
Lu Chen could hear fragments of their conversation.
"Is that the Resident Physician from the Emergency Department?"
"I heard he's only twenty-four."
"A Resident Physician coming to our department to perform an appendectomy?"
"It must be Director Qin's idea, letting him perform."
"Perform? More like coming to make a fool of himself."
There were also some different voices.
"Don't underestimate him; I heard his Suturing is incredible."
"Being good at Suturing doesn't mean being good at surgery."
"True."
Lu Chen walked through those gazes and pushed open the door to the Operating Room.
In the Operating Room, the anesthesia had already been administered.
The patient lay on the operating table, and the abdomen had been disinfected and draped.
The First assistant was a senior Resident Physician from General Surgery, in his early thirties, with a none-too-friendly expression.
The Scrub Nurse was one of the General Surgery Department's own.
The Circulating Nurse was also from General Surgery.
In the entire Operating Room, Lu Chen was the only outsider.
The First assistant glanced at him.
"You're Lu Chen from the Emergency Department?"
"Yes."
"I heard you've done a Laparoscopic Appendectomy."
"I have."
"How many?"
"One."
The First assistant's expression flickered subtly.
"One?"
"Yes, one."
The First assistant didn't say anything more, but that subtle expression said it all.
Only one and he dares to come for a Department-wide observation?
Lu Chen ignored it and walked to the operating table.
He glanced at the laparoscopic equipment.
The model was slightly different from the one in the Emergency Department, but the operating principles were the same.
"Let's begin," Lu Chen said.
His voice wasn't loud, but it was steady.
The Scrub Nurse handed over the Puncture trocar.
Lu Chen took it.
From the moment he took the instrument, his entire demeanor changed.
That gentle and low-profile aura vanished without a trace.
In its place was a sense of absolute, calm control.
His gaze became sharp and focused.
His hand movements were clean and efficient.
The first Puncture site, infraumbilical.
Puncture, insertion, establishing Pneumoperitoneum.
The movements were so smooth that even the First assistant couldn't find any fault.
"Pneumoperitoneum pressure is stable," the Circulating Nurse reported.
Lu Chen picked up the laparoscope.
The moment the lens entered the abdominal cavity, the image was projected onto the large screen in the Operating Room.
People outside the observation window could also see the real-time footage via the broadcast screens in the hallway.
The laparoscopic image was very clear.
The first things to come into view were the Omentum and the Intestines.
Lu Chen's control of the lens was extremely precise; there were no redundant movements or meaningless explorations as he pushed directly toward the Ileocecal region.
The appendix was there.
A swollen, reddened appendix covered in Purulent coating.
The image was displayed clearly on the large screen.
The murmurs outside the observation window instantly went silent.
Everyone saw it.
This was appendicitis.
A clear and obvious case of appendicitis.
Appendicitis that the General Surgery Department couldn't diagnose despite a week-long stay, various tests, and numerous consultations.
It had been singled out by an Emergency Department Resident Physician with just two physical exams and a single suggestion.
Deputy Director Qin stood behind the observation window; his expression wasn't pleasant, but he didn't lash out.
He just stared at the screen.
In the Operating Room, Lu Chen had already begun the procedure.
His technique was the same as the last time he performed appendectomy in the Emergency Department.
No, more skilled than last time.
A week of high-intensity work in the Red Zone, combined with a large volume of fine Suturing operations every day, had significantly improved his finger dexterity and control.
Dissecting the Mesoappendix.
Electrocoagulation for hemostasis.
Handling the Appendicular artery.
Every step was executed precisely and accurately, without any redundant movements.
The First assistant stood by, moving from indifference at the start to gradually falling silent, and eventually staring at the screen for the entire duration, his breathing even slowing down.
This level of operation couldn't be achieved with the experience of just one surgery.
It was too steady.
It was too accurate.
It was impossible that he had only done one.
But Lu Chen truly had only done one.
He had the system.
[Laparoscopic Appendectomy (Master Level): Progress 78/100]
A Master Level operational standard, combined with Perfect Level Suturing technique, and that permanently active achievement card for a 10% boost in hand stability.
These three things combined created a surgical performance that no one outside the observation window could comprehend.
The Mesoappendix handling was complete.
Next was the critical step.
Ligating the base of the appendix.
Lu Chen used a Hem-o-lok clip to close the base of the appendix, then severed the appendix distal to the clip.
The entire process took less than two minutes.
Zero bleeding.
Then came the treatment of the appendiceal stump.
Purse-string suture.
When he did it in the Emergency Department last time, Director Li Sen watched him complete a perfect Purse-string suture from the side.
This time, there was no Director Li Sen.
But the result was the same.
Even better.
Lu Chen's Purse-string suture was clearly displayed on the large screen.
The spacing of every stitch was perfectly consistent.
The depth of every stitch was perfectly consistent.
The moment the Suturing was finished, the stump was perfectly embedded within the Cecal wall.
Outside the observation window, it was quiet for about three seconds.
Then someone spoke.
"This is a Resident Physician?"
No one answered.
Because no one could answer.
Lu Chen didn't stop.
Irrigating the abdominal cavity.
Checking for active bleeding.
Confirming complete hemostasis.
Removing the specimen.
Closing the Puncture sites.
Total time.
Twenty-one minutes.
Two minutes faster than last time.