Chapter 40: One Blade, Two Chests Pierced
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Fang Zhiyan quickly pulled out a stethoscope and pressed it against the patient’s chest.
The patient’s breath sounds were weak, predominantly on the right side, and his heart rate was extremely rapid—around 120 beats per minute.
Beside him, Shen Qingyue swiftly measured the patient’s blood pressure while establishing an intravenous line.
“Blood pressure, 85 over 45 millimeters of mercury.”
“Mm.” Fang Zhiyan acknowledged it.
“Call Dr. Cao immediately. We need to prepare for closed-chest drainage and use the operating room.”
Zhu Zixiao nodded hurriedly and ran to the side to call Cao Chong.
Fang Zhiyan followed the patient into the resuscitation room, quickly putting on sterile gloves and taking hold of a hemostat.
Shen Qingyue cut open the patient’s clothing, and the wound, accompanied by a gush of blood, suddenly came into view.
Fang Zhiyan prepared to disinfect the area, administer local infiltration anesthesia, and then incise the skin.
Even while performing such delicate procedures, he remained utterly calm, striving for perfection.
Layer by layer, he separated the subcutaneous tissue, fascia, and muscle until the pleura came into view.
By then, the patient’s entire body was rigid with pain, especially the intercostal muscles, which were clenched tightly.
Fang Zhiyan had no choice but to force the hemostat through.
Bang!
The sound of the pleura being punctured rang beside their ears, and air from the pneumothorax hissed out through the opening.
The patient let out a howl of pain, startling everyone nearby.
Fang Zhiyan, however, remained expressionless as he clamped a plastic closed-chest drainage tube and thrust it directly into the thoracic cavity.
At that moment, the patient was suffering terribly.
Even a divine physician could do nothing but press on. The faster the procedure, the less pain the patient would have to endure.
After finishing the call, Zhu Zixiao watched from the side, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
Damn, that was ruthless!
If it had been him, he probably would have hesitated for a moment.
All right—I’m impressed!
As he watched, his expression toward Fang Zhiyan changed once again.
At the same time, Fang Zhiyan released the hemostat. Immediately, bubbles began gurgling out of the bottle, mixed with dark-red blood.
Once that was dealt with, Fang Zhiyan took out his stethoscope again and checked the patient’s condition.
The patient’s breath sounds seemed to have grown stronger. His condition had likely improved somewhat.
But surgery was still necessary.
Fang Zhiyan strode out.
“Where is the patient’s family?”
“Here, here!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, a man hurried over from the side.
“What is your relationship to the patient?” Fang Zhiyan asked.
“I’m his father!” the man quickly explained.
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“Sign immediately. We’re performing surgery at once, so we need to move quickly. Every word we waste now is costing the patient’s life.”
Fang Zhiyan spoke loudly and decisively.
The man did not question him in the slightest. He promptly signed his name on the preoperative consent form.
At that moment, Cao Chong also rushed over in a panic.
“Dr. Cao, the patient has a stab wound to the right chest, hemorrhagic shock, and a tension pneumothorax,” Fang Zhiyan explained briefly.
Cao Chong said nothing more. He waved his hand.
“To the operating room. Operate immediately.”
Soon, the injured man was wheeled into the operating room.
Cao Chong and Fang Zhiyan changed into surgical attire, while the anesthesiologist was already prepared.
Since the wound was on the right side, Fang Zhiyan began setting up the special thoracic surgical equipment.
A hand support was needed on the left side of the operating table.
Immediately afterward, anesthesia was administered, the area was disinfected, and sterile drapes were placed.
Cao Chong served as the primary surgeon, with Fang Zhiyan assisting.
Fang Zhiyan quickly took the scalpel, incised the skin, and began separating the tissues while avoiding the intercostal artery.
Given the patient’s condition, one rib had to be removed. Hemostasis would then be achieved with figure-eight sutures, and a rib spreader would be used to open the chest wall for exploration.
There was a two-centimeter-long incision in the middle lobe of the right lung, from which blood was still flowing.
After Fang Zhiyan examined the exact extent of the injury, Cao Chong began suturing.
Next, the suction device removed the fluid that had spilled out. The thoracic cavity was repeatedly rinsed with warm saline, and as the fluid became clearer and clearer, Cao Chong began closing the chest.
“Dr. Cao, shouldn’t we examine the mediastinum as well?”
Cao Chong froze. He glanced at Fang Zhiyan, then gave a slight nod.
He quickly examined the mediastinum. A moment later, his expression subtly darkened.
There was actually a wound nearly two centimeters long in the mediastinum.
This was outrageous.
Had the weapon entered through the right chest, pierced the mediastinum, and penetrated into the left chest?
Cao Chong was completely stunned by the situation.
He had never expected anything like this.
Fortunately, Fang Zhiyan had reminded him. Otherwise, would this not have resulted in a medical accident?
Who could have imagined that a single knife wound had injured both sides of the chest?
With no other choice, Cao Chong continued by opening the opposite side of the chest.
As he sutured the wound, he said, “We have Zhiyan to thank. Otherwise, this patient really might have died.”
“Your awareness is even better than mine.”
Cao Chong let out a quiet sigh and quickened the movements of his hands.
At last, the suturing was complete, and they began the final closure of the chest.
The entire procedure flowed seamlessly and was carried out with remarkable speed.
After leaving the operating table, Cao Chong was still somewhat reflective.
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“Am I getting old? Is that why I failed to notice it?”
He could not help asking himself aloud.
Hearing this, Fang Zhiyan hurriedly explained, “Perhaps you had already handled an emergency operation earlier, Dr. Cao, and were tired.”
“As the first assistant, isn’t this exactly what I’m supposed to do?”
“Dr. Cao still has to oversee the overall direction.”
At this, Cao Chong laughed helplessly.
“You little rascal. Ha ha ha.”
Fang Zhiyan laughed as well.
Once the operation was over, Fang Zhiyan left everything else to the others.
He quickly went to the office and wolfed down the steamed buns that had already gone cold.
Zhu Zixiao was actually a decent fellow. It was just a pity that his tongue was poisonous—and so was the food he gave people.
Whenever he opened his mouth or offered someone something to eat, trouble was sure to follow.
Fang Zhiyan felt that he ought to keep his distance from him.
Zhu Zixiao, however, did not feel the same way. He came over to Fang Zhiyan and said mysteriously, “Did you know? I’ve got some juicy gossip. Want to hear it?”
“What is it?”
Fang Zhiyan raised his head and looked at Zhu Zixiao in surprise.
“I heard that this morning, Gu Tao went to see Miss Luo—the woman you saved, the one whose credit he stole.”
“Apparently he went to apologize. He came out with tears and a runny nose, looking absolutely miserable.”
Fang Zhiyan raised his eyebrows, somewhat astonished.
That was quite a move on Gu Tao’s part.
The other man was the mayor. Surely he could not be expected to stoop to Gu Tao’s level.
By taking the initiative to lower his head and apologize, Gu Tao had forced the other party to pretend to be magnanimous. It was also a clever strategy of retreating in order to advance. Judging by the look of things, someone must have been advising him from behind the scenes.
As Fang Zhiyan was thinking, a knock sounded from outside the office.
Xue Shan, secretary to Luo Dongqiang, stood at the door with a broad smile.
“Dr. Fang, what a coincidence. You’re here.”
“Our Miss Luo is being discharged today and would like to see you. Do you have some time?”
Fang Zhiyan scratched his head.
Luo Yun wanted to see him?
Behind him, Zhu Zixiao hurriedly gave him a shove.
“He’s free. Of course he’s free.”
“Go on. I’ll wait here for you.”
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