godfather of surgery

Chapter 1195 The oppressive feeling of god-level speed
After resting in the locker room for a while, Yang Ping planned to go home for dinner and play with his son. The little guy would chatter excitedly every time he saw him.

I had just come out of the operating room when Dr. Li, the chief resident of the institute, called to say that a patient with a severed head had been transferred from the emergency center and that Professor Yang from the institute was urgently needed to provide technical support.

Decapitated? Yang Ping was astonished.

Head separated from body? And still alive to get to the hospital? How is that possible? Does he need a head replantation?

In all my years of work experience, I have seen replantation of hands, feet, ears, tongues, and genitals, but I have never encountered a head replantation.

Irreversible damage can occur in brain tissue if it is deprived of blood and oxygen for 4-6 minutes. If the head were to actually detach from the body, how could it possibly have the chance to arrive at the hospital alive?

"Are you sure it's a decapitation? Is the patient still alive? What are their vital signs?" Yang Ping didn't have time to ask too many questions; he went straight for the most crucial information. Simple and direct approaches are often the most effective.

In the most urgent situations, what is the most critical factor becomes relatively less important, while the reasons why things turned out this way become much less important.

Dr. Li is currently with the patient in the emergency department. The patient has just completed an emergency CT scan of the whole body. Although a whole body CT scan involves a lot of ionizing radiation, it is the fastest way to obtain satisfactory information.

Once the patient is passed through the machine, their overall condition is immediately apparent.

Chief Resident Dr. Li said, "That's right, the patient is still alive, but his vital signs are very unstable, his blood pressure is very low, and his life is in danger at any time. He needs to be transferred to the emergency operating room immediately. Director Tan is also on site."

Yang Ping understood; this kid must be referring to "incomplete severance."

Currently, all of the institute's key personnel are on the operating table, and only Yang Ping is available for consultation, and the other party has specifically requested Yang Ping.

Yang Ping didn't dare to delay. The moment he received the call, he rushed to the emergency department. Chief Resident Dr. Li immediately came to greet him and led Yang Ping to the emergency operating room.

Everyone was busy with the rescue efforts, coming and going, and everyone was moving with great speed.

At this point, the patient had completed the CT scan, was transferred to the operating table, and had already had their head shaved.

The doctors led by Tan Boyun have been divided into two groups: one group is scrubbing hands, and the other group is rinsing.

Because there was an open wound on the back of the neck and the skin was badly damaged, it was clear that the back of the neck had suffered some kind of high-speed and powerful blow.

Under such impact, the affected area suffers severe fractures and dislocations, resulting in the complete rupture of the bony structures, ligaments, and joint capsules of the cervical spine.

However, because there are still a few muscles and skin connecting the cervical spine, the patient's head and body are not completely severed.

Presumably, the blood vessels supplying the brain must have been continuous on at least one side; otherwise, without blood supply to the brain tissue, the patient would have died at the scene of the injury long ago.

Yang Ping approached the electronic screen for viewing the CT images, which were already displayed on the screen.

Dr. Zhao was not wrong to use the phrase "separation of body and head".

The patient's vertebrae were completely severed at the junction of the sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae, with a distance of two vertebral bodies. One of the vertebral arteries was completely torn, with a large amount of blood accumulation around it, while the other side was connected by an artificial blood vessel, which was visible on the CT scan.

"When he first arrived, most of the vertebral arteries on one side were still intact and blocked. I inserted an artificial blood vessel to connect and dilate it, so as to maintain the blood supply to the brain tissue," Director Tan said, looking at the CT scan.

An excellent team is crucial for emergency surgery. Director Tan's superb operation bought time for the subsequent surgery. Without the artificial blood vessel, even a miracle couldn't have saved him.

Director Han was right to strongly recommend Director Tan to Sanbo Hospital and to entrust him with the Trauma Emergency Center and Orthopedics Department. The other directors are really not as good as him. Tian Yuan has a good professional level, but he is too smooth and lacks the bold and decisive spirit of him.

This bridging vessel represents an extremely advanced emergency response approach, capable of quickly identifying the key factors from a complex array of circumstances and putting them into practice.

It is precisely this tiny channel that sustains the patient's remaining vital signs, preventing brain death caused by cerebral ischemia.

Most of the muscles were torn apart, and some of the skin was still attached, making it no different from being decapitated.

"He was struck in the back of the neck by a high-speed moving machine arm, and his limbs are paralyzed. He is on a ventilator to help him breathe. His brain has only a weak blood supply, and the bleeding is very severe. He has already received a lot of blood transfusions and was transferred up from another hospital." Director Tan continued to report to Yang Ping while directing the doctors to disinfect and drape the wound.

This situation is extremely rare, a true emergency within an emergency, and the surgery is extremely difficult.

The surgery must be quick to restore blood supply to the brain as soon as possible, as the brain is an organ that cannot tolerate ischemia. Only if the surgery is fast enough can the patient's life be saved.

When it comes to speed, who at Sanbo Hospital is faster than Yang Ping? He's the fastest scalpel operator, and even being a few seconds faster can significantly increase your chances of winning.

The strong-willed Tan Boyun did not gamble with the patient's life at this moment. He did not force himself to go on stage, but immediately asked Yang Ping for help because Yang Ping was faster than him.

In just a few words, the disinfection and plastering were completed.

"Swipe your phone!"

Without much hesitation, Yang Ping immediately swiped his hands and went up to the stage with Tan Boyun. This time, the swiping was also completed in a hurry, much faster than usual. There are ways to act in an emergency, and everything is simplified while ensuring basic quality.

"The area behind is where the heavy object struck, the skin is completely bruised and contaminated, making it unsuitable for an incision. We can only choose the anterior approach, so we adopted this supine position," Tan Boyun explained, referring to the supine position instead of the prone position, which was intended for posterior surgery.

Neither the front nor the back approach is a problem for Yang Ping. Any part of the body can be a surgical approach, which is something Yang Ping, who is extremely skilled in anatomy, can easily do.

The so-called classic surgical approach was merely a concept in his mind; he could design any most advantageous surgical approach on the spot according to the needs of the surgery.

The spinal cord has been severed at this level, so lower limb function is definitely beyond recovery, but there is still some hope for partial recovery of upper limb function.

However, the immediate goal is to save lives; we can discuss functionality later. Saving lives is the top priority, which is the fundamental principle of first aid.

Any actions that contradict the act of saving a life should be temporarily set aside.

Yang Ping put on his surgical gown and gloves, took the scalpel from the scrub nurse, and quickly exposed the fracture site.

The surgical procedure is roughly as follows: After exposing the injured area, it is necessary to carefully explore to determine exactly what structure is damaged and the extent of the damage. At the same time, the corresponding treatment measures must also be taken, as speed is of the essence in emergency care.

Then the fractured cervical vertebrae are reconnected and fixed firmly with steel plates and screws. Next, blood vessels, nerves, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joint capsules are repaired. The entire surgical procedure is actually similar to replantation.

This surgery can be viewed as an autologous head replantation.

When Yang Ping thought about autologous head replantation, he was reminded of the head transplantation that Professor Einstein was currently obsessed with. Isn't the so-called head transplantation just allogeneic head replantation? Regardless of whether it is allogeneic or autologous replantation, the surgical principles are the same. The difference is that one is one's own head and one's own body, and the other is one's own head and another person's body. One does not have a rejection reaction, and the other does have a rejection reaction.

While Yang Ping was thinking, his hands didn't slow down at all. Many basic things had become instinctive reactions. It seemed that he didn't need to think; his hands would do it automatically and without making mistakes.

Just like a pianist playing their most familiar piece, without having to think or recall the score, their ten fingers touch the keys and the notes come out one by one.

He himself didn't know how the keyboard would pop up. That's how Yang Ping was; all surgeries were actually composed of basic modules. No matter how unfamiliar the surgery was, those modules would automatically combine in his brain to form a complete and mature surgical procedure, with the path and steps crystal clear.

Today's scrub nurses have almost no experience working with Yang Ping, and Assistant Director Tan has not performed many surgeries with Yang Ping either.

As soon as they started, they couldn't keep up with the pace at all.

The anesthesiologist checks various catheters, and the circulating nurse changes blood bags.

That's how emergency operating rooms are—chaotic, with doctors and nurses moving around, but there's order within the chaos.

The skin on the front of the neck was cut open, the fascia was opened, and the muscles emitted an unpleasant burning smell under the electrocautery knife. Dark red bruises gushed out, and the straw made a hissing sound.

Yang Ping only operates at full speed during such life-saving surgeries.

Every surgical instrument seemed to be glued to Yang Ping's hands. Like a magician, he switched instruments quickly and without error, leaving Director Tan dazzled.

"Put a large curved plate here. All the equipment I need is placed here. Don't touch mine."

Clearly, they couldn't keep up with the pace, so Yang Ping had to take matters into his own hands.

He announced the instruments that needed to be used and the instruments that needed to be removed. The role of the scrub nurse was to prepare the instruments, not to hand them over, because Yang Ping would reach out and get the instruments he needed himself, and then gently place them in the kidney dish after use.

Not only were the nurses struggling to keep up, but Director Tan was completely overwhelmed. It was the first time he'd ever seen surgery performed so quickly. By the time he thought he needed to pull the skin back, Yang Ping had already separated the muscles. When he realized he needed help pulling the muscles, Yang Ping told him to temporarily stabilize the vertebrae.

Yang Ping had already requested saline solution, but his assistant and scrub nurse couldn't keep up. However, Yang Ping couldn't wait for them. It wasn't that Yang Ping couldn't wait for them, but that death wouldn't wait for them.

Yang Ping had no choice but to skip this step and continue to the next step, waiting for them to deliver saline solution before rinsing and cleaning up the blood clots.

The steps are no longer important at this point; what matters is achieving the goal as quickly as possible.

Yang Ping doesn't swear or yell, but his voice is loud and clear, exuding a strong sense of pressure. Tan Boyun, who usually puts pressure on others, is under immense pressure and always lags behind in his actions.

Yang Ping wouldn't rush them, because he knew that rushing wouldn't do any good, and sometimes it would even have the opposite effect.

Tan Boyun regrets that he didn't witness Yang Ping's speed during the rescue of Yu Shuilian, as it was said to be a surgery performed at full speed by the professor.

That day, both Song Ziming and Xu Zhiliang were extremely exhausted and almost collapsed in the end.

At the time, Director Tan only knew about the surgery from legends, but today this incredible speed has finally appeared before him.

"Steel plate, electric drill, screwdriver," Yang Ping then recited the dimensions of all the screws.

The patrol nurse was clever; he brought in several nurses and immediately assigned them tasks to work together. Some went up to assist, some took notes of Yang Ping's orders from below, and some even took shorthand notes with notebooks in hand.

After listing the screws, Yang Ping also listed the instruments needed later.

The circulating nurse immediately set up another instrument table; fortunately, the emergency operating room was quite spacious.

Yang Ping gave instructions to the nurses, but his hands did not stop or slow down; issuing commands did not affect his operation at all.

"Hold the hook properly and don't move around. Your job is to be visible; don't look around. The equipment is their job."

Yang Ping reprimanded Director Tan.

In fact, Director Tan was also anxious. While holding the retractor, he wanted to give the nurse some reminders and urge her on, as he was more familiar with the surgical procedure than the nurse.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I looked away, Professor Yang moved on to the next step, and the retractor also needed to be moved.

Director Tan is the most important person in the world, that's just his personality. But now, in front of Professor Yang, all his temper and arrogance are gone. He's like a very good-natured student, and you can even tell he's a little apprehensive.

Even the nurses nearby exclaimed that Director Tan was in such a good mood today. Her voice was much gentler, and even her eyes were much clearer than usual, a stark contrast to her fiery temper.

"Okay, okay, I'd like to pull this side open a little."

"You don't need to worry about it. I'll move you there naturally, pinky swear."

"Oh, oh, oh."

"Don't look around. Keep your eyes focused on the surgical field, and on your retractor."

"Oh, okay, I understand."

"Be more flexible with the hook in your hand; why are you so stiff?"

"oh oh."

"Hold on tight, why are you shaking?"

"Okay, I won't shake."

The doctor next to him couldn't help but want to laugh, but he couldn't laugh at the scene where every second counted.

You have to be quick-witted, quick-handed, and highly focused. It really takes a lot of mental and physical energy. Director Tan's back was covered in sweat.

I've never seen cervical spine surgery done so quickly and intensely. Just looking at Director Tan makes me sweat.

With a few quick swishes, the screws on the steel plate were driven in, and the front steel plate fixing was complete.

Now, to repair the blood vessel, since the vertebral artery is quite thick, we don't need a microscope anymore; we can suture the blood vessel directly under naked eye.

Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. Repairing blood vessels is a delicate and gentle procedure that cannot be rushed. Now you can all take a breather.

However, everyone was very disappointed. When Yang Ping took the suture needle for the blood vessel, his movements did not slow down at all. It was almost like suturing skin, not suturing blood vessels at all.

"Pay attention, cut the suture carefully, don't cut the vein, and don't cut it too short."

Because of the long-term high-speed running, Director Tan's hands were trembling a little.