Chapter 118
“Are you planning to choose the fast-knife approach as your surgical development path?” Dr. Xu turned his head and stared at him.
Last time when he asked Zhou Can, Zhou Can had not made up his mind.
This time, he actively inquired about the training method of fast-knife surgery, reigniting Dr. Xu’s hope.
He was so eager for Zhou Can to become his fast-knife successor.
“Uh… I haven’t really made up my mind! But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to understand the advantages and disadvantages of your fast-knife technique compared to Director Hu’s ‘Most Stable Scalpel’.” Zhou Can said with a sheepish smile.
“You little rascal, you’re comparing options from different sources! Fine, it’s a good time to tell you about the different styles of surgery and their respective pros and cons.”
Dr. Xu couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh scoldingly.
“The three most common surgical styles are stability, precision, and speed. Director Hu’s surgical feature is stability, which can cope with almost all surgeries and guarantees that the surgical process goes exceptionally smoothly, as steady as an old dog. However, because of his obsession with stability, it’s inevitable that the surgery cannot be done quickly. It can reach a certain level of precision, but it can never be to the most exquisite detail.”
The greatest feature of stability is safety and the guarantee of successful surgery completion.
However, because it can’t be fast and can’t achieve ultimate precision, it’s doomed that some surgeries that require a short completion time or extremely meticulous excisions and separations cannot be performed.
This is also an important reason why Director Hu Kan is less famous than Wu Baihe.
Many highly complex surgeries are simply beyond his capacity to lead.
Either give up or have someone else take the lead.
Just participating in the surgery, one is merely akin to a supporting actor in a movie. Naturally, you won’t be as famous as the lead.
People often only remember the lead.
Of course, supporting actors sometimes have the opportunity to stand out, even to surpass the lead, but those are rare exceptions.
In the medical profession, because there’s a strict hierarchy and professional code, a ‘supporting actor’ who just participates in surgeries can hardly ever surpass the fame of the lead surgeon.
I guess that’s an unspeakable pain in Director Hu Kan’s heart.
When he chose stability as his style, it was certain that he could only continue in that manner, unable to shine as brilliantly or become as widely known as Wu Baihe or Dr. Xu.
“Let’s talk about my ‘fast’ style next. There’s a saying in martial arts: in all skills in the world, nothing surpasses speed. This is mostly true for surgery as well. When your speed reaches the extreme, it seems that stability is sacrificed, but the process of being fast can bring with it the effect of stability. For example, if you make a quick incision, at worst you may cut off target or too deep, but you hardly need to worry about hand tremors or hang-ups.”
That’s actually true.
According to physics, kinetic and potential energy, a cut made at extreme speed must be in a straight line. It cannot be a wavy line.
The surgery time is significantly reduced, so there’s no need to maintain high mental focus for a dozen hours or more.
It might be over in just half an hour or an hour or two.
Every surgical style has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Just like people, nobody’s perfect.
“The downside of speed is that you can’t fully control it, and it’s easy for your hands to move faster than your brain. Also, if you have any hesitation, you can’t achieve the ultimate speed. This requires a lot of practice to be able to exercise control freely. However, even when you can control it well, it is still not foolproof. Over the past few years, I’ve pondered countless times the reasons for accidents, and I believe that as long as you have inner calm, you can restrain the impatience and restlessness that come with pursuing extreme speed. It’s like putting a double safety barrier on speed, and the chance of an accident should be controllable to zero.”
As Dr. Xu spoke, a near-maniacal confidence shone on his face and in his eyes.
Hands moving faster than the brain, cutting the wrong organ, or cutting too much, these things happen in the operating room. Dr. Xu is an absolute expert in this area and has the most say.
“I believe in the teacher’s philosophy.”
Others might not believe him, but Zhou Can deeply does.
It’s not blind admiration, but a comprehensive judgment made from some traces revealed by Dr. Xu’s behavior and demeanor.
“Thank you!”
Dr. Xu looked deeply into Zhou Can’s eyes, and as their gazes met, he felt as if he had found a kindred spirit.
Perhaps it was because after the incident, his status plummeted, and he might never be able to recover in his lifetime, making any of his ideas seem like the ramblings of a failed man to outsiders.
Not being recognized or valued.
So when someone suddenly showed heartfelt agreement with his ideas, Dr. Xu was so moved that he even thanked his apprentice.
It was the first time the teacher was so polite to him.
This made Zhou Can a bit uncomfortable.
Because too much politeness indicates distance.
He actually preferred the very strict Mr. Xu.
“Now let’s talk about the third style of surgery, precision. Wu Baihe of Neurosurgery has almost reached the pinnacle in this field.”
Zhou Can noticed that his teacher used the word ‘almost.’
This suggested that Wu Baihe hasn’t reached the ultimate level in precision, but has achieved very high proficiency.
“Precision can be understood as accuracy, meticulousness. During surgery, whether operating near the Brainstem, dissecting a tumor off the coronary artery, or suturing nerves, special blood vessels, etc., it can be done precisely as intended. Other doctors may not dare to undertake dangerous surgeries he is willing to, which is an advantage. Over the years, Wu Baihe has successfully completed at least a hundred surgeries with extreme difficulty.”
“Although there is also a certain failure rate, he indeed has completed many surgeries that other chief surgeons consider taboo.”