Chapter 679: 669 Medical Records from the Frontline

Provincial Eryuan, Operating Room.

Everyone flew up.

The senior director of the Orthopedics Department had been stationed in the Operating Room for nearly 24 hours, during which he only ate one meal; otherwise, he stood at the operating table.

The casualties were so many, endless.

The instrument nurse, as she worked, her eyes turned red; one even couldn't help but cry out loud on the table.

As someone in the Operating Room, what haven't they seen? No matter how tragic or sorrowful, they could view it with detached indifference as an outsider.

But this time, they failed to do so.

Old Director Jing, however, remained silent, stubbornly refusing all requests for him to step down and rest, even the request from the Medical Department.

Amputation, after finishing one batch of patients, another batch arrived, as if endless.

What was happening up front, Director Jing didn't want to see. He was old, his legs were inconvenient; if he had to go to the front lines, he would at least burden two or three people to take care of him.

He exerted his maximum effect in his own way.

Just……

Amputation patients were simply too many; the Amputation Shou Bing done in a lifetime were not as many as those done in these 24 hours.

This was despite most critical patients being sent to Huaxi for treatment.

Provincial Eryuan, located in Rongcheng, had its medical comprehensive strength ranking not high, roughly around fifth.

Yet despite that, countless critically wounded were still sent over.

Director Jing had endured nearly 24 hours; his body was exhausted. Usually, he would joke and even introduce boyfriends to the nurses while on the operating table, but he didn't utter a single word.

The atmosphere in the Operating Room was compressed, the pressure at least five pascals higher.

He carefully devoted all his energy to the patients—those wounded soldiers had limbs crushed or mangled by heavy objects, and without timely treatment, they developed compartment syndrome, requiring amputations far larger than imagined.

He tried hard to preserve as much limb as possible for the wounded, but he couldn't.

Compartment syndrome is often caused by traumatic fracture hematoma and tissue swelling increasing the internal volume or external binding too tight, local pressure reducing the compartment volume and thus raising pressure inside.

When pressure reaches a certain level【forearm 8.7 kPa (65 mmHg), calf 7.3 kPa (55 mmHg)】, the small arteries supplying the muscles close, forming a vicious cycle of ischemia-edema-ischemia.

This is a relatively common acute symptom in clinical practice.

Normally, a simple decompression incision suffices; amputation is completely unnecessary.

Yet in the face of natural disaster, almost all casualties did not receive treatment in the First Time, the opposite of peacetime. Moreover, most patients, because heavy objects pressed on their limbs, the immense pressure directly caused limb ischemia and necrosis.

The edema spread upward, continuously spreading. Causing ischemic necrosis, compartment syndrome continued to appear above the already blackened limbs.

The scope of amputation expanded; many limbs that didn't need to be cut off were amputated under Director Jing's hands, which he felt was a crime.

But not doing so would inevitably lead to more and more complications, plunging the wounded into difficult infections and poisoning.

Bearing immense pressure and self-reproach, Director Jing performed Shou Bing in silence, one after another.

He knew that the adjacent three or five Operating Rooms were scheduled for Orthopedics Department Shou Bing; the others mainly performed neurosurgical Shou Bing.

Meanwhile, there weren't many patients in the General Surgery Department or Thoracic Department, because organ bleeding or pneumothorax made it hard for the critically wounded to Persist beyond 48 hours.

A middle-aged male casualty was carried away; his right thigh was amputated.

Normally, the wounded only needed fracture fixation, or at most a decompression incision.

But now, an entire thigh had to be amputated……

"Next." Director Jing's voice had gone completely hoarse; the strained sound he forced out was unrecognizable even to himself.

Another patient was placed on the operating table; Director Jing rested during the intermission on a stool in the Operating Room, eyes closed to recuperate. His junior doctors were responsible for moving patients, pre-op disinfection, and other preparations.

On the patient's chest was a tightly taped plastic bag with medical tape; the Orthopedics Department doctor unhesitatingly peeled off the tape and threw the bag into the red trash bin.

Seeing this, the circulating nurse, who had only slept a few hours, still had plenty of energy.

Yes, having slept only two or three hours the previous day, with the rest of the time spent working, it was already enough to make one break down.

But in the current situation, she was the most energetic person here.

The circulating nurse realized the plastic bag might contain something important, such as the patient's identity, to help the family locate them.

She used Oval Forceps to pluck the plastic bag from the red trash bin and opened it to take a look.

"This patient's limb edema is not severe, Director Jing. Sister Su, prepare…" the Orthopedics Department doctor said, but was cut off by the circulating nurse.

"These are medical records left by a frontline doctor." the circulating nurse said in a low voice.

"What?" the Orthopedics Department doctor didn't understand, frontline? doctor? medical records?

The front lines lacked everything; some places even needed water airdropped. Airdropping a bottle of pure water cost at least a hundred yuan each.

Even so, due to weather, most water and food couldn't reach the disaster victims. The Frontline General Command Headquarters, however, relentlessly airdropped supplies regardless of cost.

With supplies scarce to this extent, could there still be doctors leaving medical records on the front lines?

Director Jing's eyes snapped open; he reached out and said, "Let me see."

A tissue was handed to Director Jing; the whole sheet was damp, heavy in his hand.

He looked at the somewhat messy handwriting, his nose tingling.

What harsh conditions this medical rescue was carried out under……

Although he hadn't experienced it himself, Director Jing could imagine it.

After looking for nearly three Minutes, Director Jing remained silent, not uttering a word. His hand, gingerly holding the tissue, trembled slightly, growing more violent.

"Director Jing?" the circulating nurse glanced, then handed the tissue to Director Jing. Seeing his condition was off, she immediately asked.

Director Jing said nothing, wiped his face roughly with his big hand, and only after his emotions steadied did he say, "This patient underwent a Thrombectomy Shou Bing on the front lines six hours ago."

"" the circulating nurse stared.

"" the Orthopedics Department doctor who was disinfecting also stared.

Under such frontline conditions, could a Thrombectomy Shou Bing still be performed?

Severe trauma, the difficulty of a Thrombectomy Shou Bing is unknown how many times greater than that of a Thrombectomy for ordinary cardiovascular disease.

Because the originally normal physiologicalUnderstandingdissection structure was damaged, there are many and dense staples, making it very difficult to remove.

At the provincial Eryuan, such Shou Bing are rarely performed, yet someone actually did it on the front line?