Chapter 8: Minor Surgery in the Emergency Department

"Go report to the head nurse, change clothes and prepare for surgery." Zheng Ren finally got an emergency trauma case; under the stimulation of the bloody smell, he felt the high-energy phosphate bonds of ATP in his body cracking apart, releasing power.

After glancing at the patient, the patient's condition already appeared in the upper right corner of his field of view.

This is a patient with a knife wound; vital signs are stable, the wound is on the back, and no internal organs were injured.

The condition is relatively simple—just suture it, keep under observation for a few days, and a few days of anti-inflammatory medication will take care of it; it's a minor injury.

Although the victim looks bloody, it doesn't frighten an experienced clinical doctor.

Moreover, Zheng Ren now has the support of the system's power.

Zheng Ren strode back to the duty room and changed into a white coat.

Wearing a white coat is not allowed in the cafeteria; who knows what bacterial outbreak might be lurking in which department, say, an antibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii or the like. If it really spread in the cafeteria, the whole hospital would collapse into chaos.

After changing clothes as quickly as possible, the patient and his family had already arrived at the entrance of the Emergency Department.

"Doctor, my older brother was hacked, please save him." The one supporting the victim was a young man, face full of panic, looking as if he'd been frightened enough to be outspoken.

"Brother Yuan, you handle the fees and anesthetic; I'll take the patient to suture." Zheng Ren arranged.

Yuan Li was actually happy about it; the Emergency Department sees dozens of sutures every day, he's grown tired of suturing, so having someone else do it is perfect.

The most annoying part is when only one person is on duty and two or three trauma patients needing sutures arrive at once—deciding which to suture first makes this multiple-choice question as hard as S-rank, practically a matter of life and death.

He brought the patient to the adjacent operating room, had the family go pay the fees, and Zheng Ren together with a nurse helped the patient onto the operating table.

The operating table in the Emergency Department is rather crude, covered with a brown, slightly soft crystal plate.

Every day it's trauma, and the Emergency Department's traumas are minor wounds with contaminated openings, not fearing secondary contamination. The crystal plate has the advantage of being easy to wipe clean and not getting stained with blood.

He cut open the patient's clothing, revealing a wound about 20 cm long before Zheng Ren.

The knife gape turned outward, and several small vessels oozed bright blood, which soon flowed along the patient's clothing onto the operating table.

Zheng Ren took a piece of sterile gauze to cover the knife wound, then began preoperative preparation.

Xie Yiren quickly ran in, wearing a blue disposable sterile cap and a blue-and-white sterile mask, saying nothing, and immediately began helping Zheng Ren prepare the supplies.

Opening the package, scissors, suture thread, lidocaine, saline…

…………

At the same time, deep in Zheng Ren's mind, that clear pond to the bottom suddenly rose a thin mist. The mist quickly thickened, seven-colored light and shadow flickered, as if a rainbow were hidden within, countless vague shadows appearing and disappearing like a mirage.

Light flowed, and the blurry images in the mirage began to become clear.

If Zheng Ren saw this, he would surely be startled. What appears in the mirage is exactly what he is seeing at this moment.

…………

"The 0.5% lidocaine is ready." Xie Yiren moved swiftly.

The nurse who came out of the operating room is different; when preparing for surgery, she is professional.

Zheng Ren removed the gauze from the patient's wound and said to the patient, "Hold on, it will hurt a bit."

The patient nodded slightly, but since he was lying prone on the operating table, the movement wasn't very noticeable.

He flushed with saline, then Zheng Ren picked up a large ball of povidone-iodine cotton with tweezers and began wiping from the outside inward.

As the povidone-iodine disinfection range entered the knife wound, the patient's back muscles twitched up suddenly.

The back muscle groups kept trembling, the tremor very uniform.

"Hold on, we're disinfecting." Zheng Ren said emotionlessly.

"Doctor, can you give me anesthesia?" the patient asked.

"Of course we need anesthesia, but it's local." After the first disinfection, Zheng Ren tossed the contaminated povidone-iodine into the trash, picked up another ball, and without hesitation pressed it onto the patient's wound.

"Ah..." the patient let out a wolf-like howl.

"Even if it's local anesthesia, we need to disinfect first." Zheng Ren comforted: "It'll be quick, don't worry."

This is povidone-iodine; if twenty years ago they'd used iodine tincture and alcohol for disinfection, the pain would have increased severalfold.

"Put on gloves." Zheng Ren saw the patient could still endure, so he told Xie Yiren.

Zheng Ren also put on sterile gloves, then administered local infiltration anesthesia to the patient.

"Forceps with thread, number four." Zheng Ren skillfully located the bleeding small vessel, eyes on the wound, reached out.

A curved forceps was lightly tapped into Zheng Ren's hand, and the number-four suture line, as his hand moved away, landed perfectly on his pinky.

Xie Yiren's coordination in the surgery could be called master-level.

"Scissors……"

"Forceps with thread……"

"Small needle, number one thread……"

In the operating room, only Zheng Ren's monotonous commands and the patient's heavy breathing could be heard. But Zheng Ren realized his words were completely superfluous; basically, before he finished speaking, the corresponding instrument was lightly tapped into his hand by Xie Yiren.

The wound was long and deep; every layer of tissue had to be sutured, otherwise a cavity would remain post-op, leading to abscess, infection, and other complications.

For Zheng Ren, who possesses 330 points of surgical skill, this suturing was just a piece of cake. While suturing, he wondered whether the system should give him some task—like a treasure chest for each suture.

But what Zheng Ren hoped for didn't happen; the system's mechanical female voice was very quiet, as if it had disappeared.

Zheng Ren felt a bit regretful, but he still meticulously sutured the wound layer by layer until complete.

"Hook needle, number seven thread." Zheng Ren reached out, and the needle holder was immediately tapped into his hand.

Just then, a clamor came from outside.

The operating room door was kicked open, and several young men reeking of alcohol rushed straight in.

Zheng Ren cursed under his breath.

Why are there so few doctors in the Emergency Department? Because nobody wants to perform surgery or see patients under these conditions.

"Where is my older brother?"

"Damn it, take good care of my older brother's illness; if there's any problem, I'll beat you to death!"

"Older brother, older brother, how are you?"

Several lackeys threatened Zheng Ren while showing loyalty.

Zheng Ren was both laughing and crying; shouldn't they be showing concern to the Shou Bing doctor so the doctor can focus on the Shou Bing?

However, for a drunkard, especially one who got drunk drinking at noon, there's nothing reasonable to say.

"Get out, you bastards!" the wounded yelled. He still had a bit of sanity, knowing what should and shouldn't be done now. Afterwards, he said with a mix of apology, flattery, and unease: "Doctor, my brother doesn't understand; please don't mind. If anything is damaged, I'll compensate later. Please stitch me up well…"

The drunk little hooligan, hearing his big brother's angry scolding, immediately became much more obedient. He also scolded Zheng Ren a few times, then, urged by the wounded, left the Operating Room and casually closed the door.

Zheng Ren sighed inwardly; the corner needle dropped, emerged from another puncture, and he skillfully tied an instrument knot.