88: Chapter 88. Surgery complete! Time taken: 31 minutes! Spleen preservation successful!

Lu Chen suctioned the accumulated blood while exploring the abdominal cavity with his hand.

The holographic projection of the Eye of Truth had already unfolded in his field of vision.

There was a three-centimeter tear in the capsule of the lower pole of the spleen, with active bleeding, but the splenic pedicle was intact.

"Rupture of the lower pole capsule of the spleen; the bleeding point is on the lateral side of the lower pole."

"Can the spleen be saved?" Zhao Yaqin asked.

"The tear isn't large, and the splenic pedicle is undamaged. I'll try to perform a splenic repair."

If it had been the comminuted splenic rupture from yesterday, it would have had to be removed.

But for this one today, the tear is relatively localized, so there are conditions for spleen preservation.

Lu Chen first used gauze packing to apply pressure and stop the bleeding, then carefully assessed the overall condition of the spleen.

The location of the bleeding point marked by the system was extremely precise.

He used absorbable sutures to repair and suture the tear.

The stitch spacing was even, and the tension was moderate; he needed to close the tear without exerting too much force, which could cause the suture to cut through the splenic tissue.

The texture of the spleen is quite fragile, so the greater omentum needed to be used as a gasket when Suturing.

Lu Chen took a piece of pedicled greater omentum, covered the surface of the repaired area, and secured it with sutures.

He then covered the surface of the repaired area with hemostatic gauze.

After confirming there was no active bleeding, he irrigated the abdominal cavity, placed a drainage tube, and closed the abdomen layer by layer.

Surgery complete.

Time taken: thirty-one minutes.

Spleen preservation successful.

Zhao Ming did not offer any comments this time.

He simply wrote down the surgery duration and intraoperative situation on the anesthesia record sheet in silence, then glanced at Lu Chen.

"If you suddenly said one day that you could perform a heart bypass, I wouldn't be surprised at all."

"I really can't do that."

"Even if you say you can't, I won't believe you anymore."

When Zhao Yaqin took off her gloves, there was a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth.

"The splenic repair was performed beautifully; the position and area of the greater omentum coverage were very reasonable. Where did you learn this technique?"

"I saw it in a textbook."

"Textbooks wouldn't teach you how to trim the greater omentum so perfectly."

"Maybe it's just that I have a good feel for it."

Zhao Yaqin did not continue to press the matter.

Some things wouldn't have answers even if one kept asking.

She only needed to know one thing.

Lu Chen's surgical ability was still continuing to grow.

And the speed of that growth was ridiculously fast.

[Ding! Emergency Operating Room task progress: 4/5]

It's four.

Just one more to go.

Lu Chen walked out of the Operating Room and glanced at the time.

11:20 AM.

There were nearly thirty hours left for the task.

No rush; just wait and see.

...

Noon.

Shen Xiaoning appeared at the door of the Duty Room again, carrying a food tray.

"Dr. Lu! Lunch!"

Lu Chen opened the door and took the tray.

Today's dishes were braised pork ribs, steamed fish, and broccoli with minced garlic.

"You didn't cook today?"

"The dishes in the Cafeteria were pretty good today, so I didn't cook myself."

"Then what about that time you said you wanted to practice making braised pork belly?"

Shen Xiaoning's face flushed slightly.

"That... I went back and tried it again."

"How was it?"

"A little better than last time."

"To what degree is 'a little better'?"

"It's just... it didn't burn."

"That's a big improvement."

"But it was a bit salty."

"Just add more water."

"I did add water! But I forgot that soy sauce is also salty!"

Lu Chen almost choked on the fish.

"When you make braised pork belly, you add both salt and soy sauce?"

"Yeah, the recipe said to add soy sauce for color, but I felt the color wasn't dark enough, so I added more. Then I was afraid it wouldn't be salty enough, so I added salt."

"Didn't you think it was salty when you ate it?"

"I didn't eat it; I had my brother try it."

"What did your brother say?"

"He said it was delicious and told me to keep making it."

"Your brother is quite resilient."

"What does that mean!"

"Nothing."

Lu Chen lowered his head and continued eating.

Shen Xiaoning stood at the door again and didn't leave.

"Do you want to watch me eat again?"

"I... I'm not; I just wanted to say something."

"Speak."

"I heard from Sister Meng that tomorrow is your day off."

"Yeah."

"Do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

Lu Chen chewed on a piece of rib.

"Going back to the Orphanage."

"The Orphanage?"

"I grew up in an Orphanage; Director Mother raised me. I haven't been back to visit in a long time."

Shen Xiaoning's eyes suddenly became very serious.

"You came from an Orphanage?"

"Yeah."

"Then your Director Mother must have been very good to you."

"Very good."

Shen Xiaoning was silent for a few seconds.

Then she suddenly said something.

"Can I go with you?"

Lu Chen looked up at her.

"Why do you want to go?"

"I want to meet your Director Mother! And those little kids! I really like kids!"

"Why do you want to meet her?"

Shen Xiaoning was momentarily speechless, and her face turned even redder.

"It's just... I just think that a mother who raised someone as capable as you must be amazing, too, and I want to go see."

Lu Chen thought for a moment.

"Suit yourself, but the Orphanage is in the west of the city; it takes over an hour by bus."

"It's okay! I'm not afraid of the distance!"

"Then let's meet at the entrance of the Hospital at 8:00 AM tomorrow."

"Okay!"

Shen Xiaoning didn't stay long this time and skipped away.

Lu Chen shook his head and continued eating.

...

2:00 PM.

Another emergency case arrived in the Red Zone.

A twenty-seven-year-old young woman had fallen while riding an electric scooter, landing on her right clavicle area. When she was brought in, she couldn't lift her right arm, and there was a clear deformity in the clavicle area.

Lu Chen took a glance.

[Eye of Truth scan complete]

[Patient information: Female, 27 years old]

[Chief complaint: Pain and limited movement after falling on the right shoulder for 1 hour]

[Eye of Truth diagnosis: Comminuted fracture of the middle third of the right clavicle, displacement of fracture ends, fracture fragments compressing the subclavian vein, risk of vascular injury exists]

[Danger level: B+ grade]

[Current symptoms: Deformity, swelling, and tenderness of the right shoulder; blood supply to the distal right upper limb is acceptable but peripheral circulation is slightly poor]

[Recommendation: Surgical open reduction and internal fixation required; pay attention to protecting the subclavian vessels during surgery]

[Warning: If the fracture fragments continue to displace, they may puncture the subclavian vein, leading to massive hemorrhage]

Clavicle fracture.

This should originally be transferred to the Orthopedics Department for treatment.

But the Eye of Truth provided a key piece of information.

The fracture fragments were compressing the subclavian vein, with a risk of puncturing the vessel.

If the fragments displaced during the transfer process now...

"Sister Zhao, this clavicle fracture is a bit problematic."

Zhao Yaqin walked over and took a look at the X-ray.

"It's comminuted, with quite a few fragments; it is indeed a bit troublesome."

"The position of the fracture fragments is tricky. When I performed the physical examination, I found that the peripheral circulation of the patient's right upper limb was poorer than in a normal clavicle fracture; the fragments might be compressing the subclavian vessels."

Zhao Yaqin re-examined the patient's right hand.

The capillary refill time after pressing the nail bed was indeed on the long side.

"What do you mean?"

"Surgery is needed as soon as possible, and we must be especially careful to protect the vessels during the procedure. If the fragments displace and puncture the subclavian vein during transport, that would be troublesome."

"This surgery should be done by the Orthopedics Department."

"I know, but the problem now is that the position of the fragments is dangerous. I suggest we do it here first; at least the Operating Room is right next door. If a vascular problem really arises during surgery, we can deal with it immediately."

Zhao Yaqin hesitated for a moment.

Open reduction and internal fixation for a clavicle fracture is, strictly speaking, in the scope of Orthopedics Department surgery.

But what Lu Chen said also made sense.

In situations where fragments are compressing vessels, time really cannot be wasted.

"Have you performed clavicle fracture surgery before?"

"I haven't, but I am very clear on the principles of open reduction and internal fixation, and I am familiar with the anatomical structure of the clavicle."

Zhao Yaqin glanced at him.

If someone else had said this, she definitely would have slapped them.

But the one saying this was Lu Chen.

Lu Chen, who had never performed a surgery but could always do it better than those who had.

"I'll contact the Orthopedics Department and have them send someone over for a consultation. If the Orthopedics Department agrees to have it done here, then you can perform it."

"Okay."