Chapter 2602: 2509 Up and Down Difficulty

Troublesome.

After a few seconds of silence, Zheng Ren and Su Yun said in unison.

Looks simple, just a fish bone stuck in the esophagus; if it were an ordinary person's idea, surely taking it out would be enough.

But Zheng Ren and Su Yun didn't think so, nor did Director Luo, who called the hotline for help; if it were simple, Director Luo wouldn't have called.

That fish bone is like a barbed arrow lodged in the esophageal wall; if one uses brute force to pull it out, it will surely become a tragedy.

There is a 1% chance of success, but a 99% chance it will lead to an emergency rescue, and the patient's likelihood of death is high.

On the way, Zheng Ren called Gao Shaojie, telling him to wait a bit before sending the patient to surgery, while he himself would check the situation.

"Boss, your temper will wear people out." Su Yun blurted out.

Zheng Ren knew he was complaining about his habit of doing everything himself.

Other things could be overlooked, but for surgery, one must see it personally to feel at ease.

Even if Gao Shaojie's skill improves quickly, he has now nearly reached Professor Rudolf Wagner's surgical level.

Even if Lin Yuan can already perform surgery independently, and even if Gu Xiao Ran can try assisting on stage.

Everyone else in the medical team is growing, but Zheng Ren still worries like he has OCD. Su Yun looks down on this habit of the boss; his words are full of contempt.

However, Zheng Ren didn't refute Su Yun's words; he silently walked toward the endoscopy room.

Arriving at the endoscopy room, after changing shoes and clothes, a doctor was already waiting at the door. He first described the condition: "Zheng Lao Ban, Director Luo sent me to receive you; please come in. The patient ate fish last night, and this morning came to our hospital with hemoptysis for four days. Under gastroscopy, a 5 cm long fish bone is seen in the esophagus 8 cm from the cardia, with three fish spines on each side, lodged in the esophageal wall."

He didn't waste words; after a brief greeting, he directly reported the condition.

Um, the patient's condition is worse than imagined! Zheng Ren's expression grew solemn.

"Director Luo tried, but pulling it out caused the fish spines to flare up, slightly damaging the esophageal mucosa; he didn't dare move it, so please take a look." The young doctor continued.

"Hmm, go check the situation." Zheng Ren strode in.

Arriving at Director Luo's endoscopy room, Zheng Ren said: "Director Luo, I'm here."

"Zheng Lao Ban, help me take a look; I can't get it out." Director Luo's sterile cap was soaked with sweat, and he looked somewhat fatigued.

Called from home in the early morning, this is still a difficult patient to handle; anyone would be tired. Zheng Ren chuckled and said, "Can't get it out?"

"Hmm, if we force it, I fear the esophageal mucosa from the cardia up several centimeters will tear all the way to the top." He shook his head: "Otherwise, just push it down into the stomach."

"That's also an option, but it can't be expelled from the stomach either." Zheng Ren said.

The main component of fish bone is calcium carbonate; gastric acid pH 0.9–1.5 will soften the fish bone in the stomach but not dissolve it.

Fish bone consists of many components; phosphates can dissolve in acid, and removing these minerals makes the bone naturally soft. However, fish bone also contains abundant collagen, wrapping many other large protein molecules and polysaccharides; these macromolecular structures need further breakdown to be digested.

Although gastric fluid pH is low, once it enters the small intestine the pH rises to about 7–8; certain proteases effective on fish bone protein, such as collagenase and pancreatic enzyme, only work under these alkaline conditions to further digest food.

In short, even if a fish bone with six spines is pushed into the stomach, it won't be digested—something everyone present knows.

If the fish bone head gets stuck at the pylorus due to gastric peristalsis, causing obstruction or tearing, a larger surgical treatment is required.

Even a gastrectomy or intestinal anastomosis is no joke.

Director Luo was also left with no choice; he was just speaking offhand.

Zheng Ren put on sterile gloves, took the endoscope equipment from Director Luo's hands, and began observing the fish bone's position.

Just as the young doctor described, the fish bone is relatively large and hard. Whether it's from freshwater or sea, Zheng Ren didn't ponder that. He also didn't try to pull the bone out, but instead looked around the situation.

The esophageal mucosa shows slight damage, caused by the fish spines puncturing it, plus some secondary injury from Director Luo's recent manipulation. It's obvious Luo was careful; he didn't use brute force to yank the bone out.

What can we do about this?

Zheng Ren also felt a bit restless.

Can't go up, can't go down, staying in this position won't work either.

"Ding—"

A crisp sound rang, the mission alert tone sounded. Hearing the mission prompt, Zheng Ren wasn't happy; instead, he felt troubled.

This matter is really hard to solve; why is Big Pig Trotter throwing in nonsense now?

【Emergency Mission: Up and Down Difficulty.】

Mission Content: Remove the fish bone from the esophagus.

Mission Reward: Skill Points 3000, Experience Points 10000.

Mission Time: 3 hours.】

Zheng Ren looked at the mission appearing in the upper right of his view, feeling helpless. Is Big Pig Trotter playing with him? For such a big surgery Xiao Shitou, it doesn't issue missions, yet this fish bone gets one.

Moreover, the mission reward is nowhere near proportional to its difficulty.

Looking at the mission panel, Zheng Ren suddenly felt moved. According to his understanding of Big Pig Trotter, removing the fish bone should be a simple thing; otherwise, it wouldn't have such a meager reward.

Where is the problem? It should be a blind spot in his own thinking.

Countless ideas surfaced in Zheng Ren's mind; he held the endoscope tube, motionless, staring at the screen. Afterwards, he entered the System Operating Room and began trying various ways to remove the fish bone.

Director Luo waited nearly ten seconds, his unease growing stronger. It wasn't the fish bone that made him anxious; the greatest anxiety and nervousness came from Zheng Lao Ban's immobility.

A bad thought rose in his mind—could it be that he had injured something when he just tried to pull out the fish spine?

After carefully examining the screen, Director Luo was quite sure nothing was wrong; after recalling his recent actions again, he still felt nothing was amiss.

"Zheng Lao Ban... could it be that you've injured something?" Director Luo didn't dwell on it, but asked tentatively.

"Your manipulation was very gentle, causing no major secondary injury; I'm thinking about how to get the fish bone out." Zheng Ren smiled and comforted Director Luo.

"Boss, you're overthinking it and scaring Director Luo." Su Yun smiled: "Now do you understand?"

"Hmm, there is a method we can try." Zheng Ren said.

Director Luo was overjoyed—having a method is good, having a method is good!