Chapter 1730

Zhou Litao basically had no free time; after chatting a couple of sentences with Zheng Ren, he went back to see patients.

It was a patient with acute appendicitis, estimated to be admitted for surgery.

Zheng Ren accompanied Cui Lao on rounds, and Lao He didn't go home either. It seemed this guy had recovered his strength, preparing to pester relentlessly, insisting on joining the medical team no matter what.

Su Yun, on the other hand, didn't care, holding her phone, sitting on an outside chair, not knowing who she was chatting with.

At 3:20 p. m., two family members supported a male patient over fifty as they walked in.

He held his stomach, not exerting himself, apparently because any effort hurt. He didn't dare walk fast, inching bit by bit into Cui Lao's consultation room.

This was a fairly typical sign of peritonitis; Cui Lao immediately stood up and said, "Help him lie on the bed."

"Doctor, my stomach hurts." The patient was in severe pain; seeing Cui Lao was like seeing a relative, and his emotions broke down instantly.

He looked at Cui Lao with tear-filled eyes, speaking with a sobbing tone.

"What's going on? When did the pain start?" Cui Lao, seeing the family supporting the patient, gently laid him on the examination bed.

The movement was slight, but the abdominal wall muscles twitched a bit, and the patient felt a wave of intense pain.

His "ay-yo" cries came one after another without cease.

Zheng Ren saw the patient's System Panel all blood-red, several diagnoses shocking—infectious shock, acute peritonitis, intestinal rupture, etc. But what most caught Zheng Ren's attention was—the diagnosis of chemical colitis.

How could it be so serious? And what the hell is chemical?

The patient could not lie flat at all, half-reclining in a relative's arms, but even that was not enough.

The instant Cui Lao's hand touched the patient's abdomen, he reflexively cried out even louder.

The infectious shock wasn't severe; at least for now, he estimated the intestinal rupture hadn't been long, Zheng Ren judged.

Not fearing cries of pain, but fearing silence and a blank expression—that's when it's truly serious.

But whether it's serious or not is also relative.

This patient's board-like abdomen wasn't going anywhere; Cui Lao hesitated a moment and said, "Xiao Zheng, help me order an abdominal CT."

"Okay." Zheng Ren immediately got to work on the medical order.

Cui Lao asked, "When did the pain start?"

"This morning… no, it started hurting a bit last night; I thought I could tough it out and get better," said a patient's relative.

Last night? The timing seems off. For such a severe intestinal perforation, the patient should have endured it for a long time.

Zheng Ren wrote the order, his mind pondering.

In a short time, Cui Lao couldn't get a very detailed history, so he left a relative who supposedly knew the situation, had Zheng Ren take the patient for a CT, and then send him to Gastroenterology Surgery for admission.

Because his peritonitis symptoms were obvious, even a slight movement caused severe pain, and it took great effort to get the patient onto the gurney.

They didn't dare run, only able to push the gurney forward slowly, trying to reduce vibration.

"What did you eat?" Zheng Ren asked while walking.

"I haven't eaten all day." The patient, in pain like a shrimp, curled up on the gurney, cold sweat beading at his temples.

His dark complexion, the blackness had faded considerably.

Zheng Ren knew this was a sign of worsening infectious shock.

Hurry up and do an abdominal CT, then open the abdomen—that's the proper way. Without auxiliary tests, you could still open the abdomen for exploration, but that would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, incomparable to having a pre-op image.

Zheng Ren again asked about possible causes of intestinal perforation, but the patient's answers remained negative.

"Doctor, stop asking, he's about to die, hurry up and save him!" another attendant who had come along said anxiously.

Because they heard the patient's moans, even non-doctors could tell his condition was bad, so they couldn't hold back their impatient temper and spoke sharply.

"We'll be at the CT Shi soon." Zheng Ren said, "After the CT, we need emergency surgery; can you sign the pre-op consent?"

The patient's relative said nothing.

Signing means taking on responsibility. Helping out is fine, but don't take on responsibility for yourself.

As long as they're not immediate family who could inherit the estate, people generally don't want to sign; that's just human nature.

Zheng Ren suppressed his inner impatience and brought the patient to the CT Shi.

He handed the order to the operator inside who was doing a CT, then lined up directly at the door, waiting for the emergency examination.

Many people were queued outside the CT Shi; the wait was somewhat long, and with family members sick, they were all somewhat impatient.

Someone saw the gurney trying to cut in line and came over to check. When they saw a doctor accompanying the patient, who looked half-dead on the gurney, even their impatience was suppressed.

Few people at such a time still argue about whether to queue, rushing to lecture. There are many nitpickers, but it depends on the occasion.

The airtight lead door opened, and Zheng Ren immediately pushed the patient into the CT Shi.

They lifted him onto the bed, let him lie as flat as possible, and Zheng Ren went to the operator's room.

After the CT, Su Yun accompanied the patient back, and Zheng Ren directly found a machine in the CT Shi's reading room, locating the patient's images.

Just one glance, and Zheng Ren knew there was trouble.

Liang Boshi saw Zheng Ren come in, moved closer, wanting to learn something from him. He glanced at the images and was also stunned.

The distal rectum and sigmoid colon showed numerous bubbles on the CT.

"Zheng Lao Ban, this is…" Liang Boshi, having never seen such an image, asked in astonishment.

Zheng Ren thought for a moment and said helplessly, "It should be that the patient used, or someone used, hydrogen peroxide enemas, causing local chemical burns of the intestine."

"" Liang Boshi was speechless, silent for a few seconds.

"Hydrogen peroxide damages the mucosa while producing oxygen, so tiny bubbles can be seen." Zheng Ren continued to examine other images.

Just a chemical burn of the rectum and sigmoid colon is absolutely not enough.

Flipping through the images quickly, Zheng Ren noticed the patient had diffuse peritonitis, and together with rectal and sigmoid colonic inflammatory congestion, white exudate, and air pockets—classic signs known as the 'white snow' sign.

While quickly viewing the images, Zheng Ren also took out his phone and called Su Yun.

"Su Yun, I highly suspect the patient used hydrogen peroxide enemas; ask if that's the case." Zheng Ren said, "Besides hydrogen peroxide enemas, what other means were used?"

Speaking, Zheng Ren saw a high-density shadow near the patient's spleen, with abundant fluid around the spleen.

Damn…… my spleen ruptured! Zheng Ren was shocked.

Is this what just happened?

Zheng Ren racked his brain; when he sent the patient away, he hadn't checked the patient's System Panel.

It's likely hemorrhagic shock, but what the hell is that?

Could it be that the patient poured over 1000ml of hydrogen peroxide into the intestinal tract, burning the intestines and also burning the spleen?

Just then, Su Yun's call came in.

"Boss, the patient self-reported constipation for a month; seven days ago he used three live loaches to relieve constipation, and today at noon he used hydrogen peroxide for an enema."

Damn! Really troublesome!

Is this using one's own intestines as a sewer?!