Chapter 228
Chapter 228: Chapter 127: Diverting Attention, Dr. Chi Wants to Poach
The mutilated right thumb, paired with an intact X-ray of the right foot skeleton.
He couldn’t help but be horrified.
Could it be… did Director Shen mean to recreate a thumb for the patient by taking the big toe from the right foot and transplanting it to the position of the patient’s right thumb?
This ingenious idea of grafting is truly mind-blowing.
It’s not something an ordinary person could think of.
In ancient times, those who built palaces for emperors were known as skilled craftsmen, and modern doctors indeed deserve this title.
Although this concept is very bold and ingenious, the difficulty of transplantation is extremely high.
At least that’s how Zhou Can understands it.
The difficulty of replanting a severed finger is lower because the severed finger and the docking site are consistent in size, tissue location, and distribution.
Blood vessels, tendons, nerves, phalanges, and even skin can be perfectly aligned.
But the big toe of the right foot is quite different from the thumb of the hand.
How to connect them?
If the surgery fails, the patient’s loss would be too significant.
Not only would they lose the right toe, making the originally healthy right foot disabled, but they would also have to bear high medical costs and the pain from the surgery.
That would truly be paying for suffering.
“Transplanting toes to the hand, the difficulty and risk are immense. I’ve never seen such a surgery in my life!” said Dr. Hee, rubbing his hands excitedly.
“Toe-to-thumb surgery is genuinely a Level 4 surgery, how could the difficulty not be high?”
Doctor Shan is not much older than him.
Being the attending physician means he has much more experience.
“We as medical professionals need to be bold in taking challenges and daring to innovate. Toe-to-thumb surgery has already had two successful cases in Shanghai’s top hospital. As long as we are careful, meticulous, and rigorous during the surgery, the success rate should not be too low. I have already discussed with the patient the risks if the surgery fails, and he is willing to take the chance.”
Director Shen subtly guided the thinking of his team of doctors.
Establishing a good medical ethos and philosophy for them.
An excellent chief physician can lead an excellent team. In addition to superb technical skills, this noble medical spirit can also impact generation after generation.
“This surgery has several difficult points to overcome, and I alone cannot accomplish it. Doctor Shan is skilled in vascular and nerve anastomosis and micro-delicate surgeries. We’ll leave the vascular and nerve anastomosis to you. Dr. Chi excels in tendon reconstruction and repair; you will handle that. I will be responsible for excising the patient’s toe and then making an incision at the remaining part of the patient’s right thumb to perform the toe bone and thumb bone alignment, as well as subsequent flap repair.”
Director Shen made the surgery assignments.
“During the toe excision, the patient’s hemostasis, foot incision repair, and suturing need to be handled by a resident doctor. Which of your residents can take on this task?”
Even within the same group, there is competition among doctors.
Doctor Shan and Dr. Chi are both excellent, but just being excellent themselves is not enough.
If the resident doctors they supervise are also excellent, that scores a significant bonus.
“My resident Yang Fuhai is very good at hemostasis, and Dr. Gandhi is excellent in wound repair. Having both of them take on this task should be very reliable.”
Dr. Chi was quick to act.
He immediately secured the training opportunity for his two residents.
“My following Dr. Tang, Dr. Hee, and equally capable resident Dr. Zhou,” Doctor Shan, both in seniority and skill, is behind Dr. Chi.
She had no way to compete with the other in securing surgical training opportunities.
She could only weakly advocate for her doctors.
“The post-excision wound treatment is quite complex; the two residents under Dr. Chi, with their richer surgical experience, will handle it this time. Doctor Shan’s doctors will have other opportunities for training later.”
Director Shen eventually chose the two residents with more extensive surgical experience.
Doctors Yang and Dr. Gandhi exchanged a glance and smiled.
Dr. Tang and Dr. Hee looked disheartened.
The patient was soon brought into the operating room, and for safety, inhalation anesthesia was administered.
The anesthetist monitored the patient’s vital signs throughout the procedure.
The surgery started quickly.
As planned.
Director Shen processed the patient’s excised toe first by treating it and then refrigerating it.
He then started the surgery for the upcoming transplantation at the position of the patient’s right thumb.
Doctors Yang and Dr. Gandhi got busy right away.
They performed multiple procedures on the patient’s foot incision, including hemostasis, bone grinding, and nerve loop.
Both being high-seniority residents, they had gained a lot of experience in the operating room, with substantial surgical capabilities.
Doctor Yang’s skill in hemostasis should reach a medium level among resident doctors.
Very close to an excellent level.
But still falling short a bit.
Dr. Gandhi’s debridement skills are also excellent, barely reaching an excellent level among resident doctors.
No wonder Dr. Chi is so confident in these two.
Compared to them, Dr. Tang under Doctor Shan has a significant gap. As for Dr. Hee, even more so.
At the beginning, Doctor Yang’s hemostasis was quite good, and Dr. Gandhi’s debridement was also well done.