Great Doctor Ling Ran

“It’s time for the blood vessels.”

“Let’s suture the arteries first.”

“Pull it out… Oh, you’ve already pulled it out.”

“All right, it’s time for the most complicated part of the surgery—the suturing of blood vessels…” Over the past two hours of carrying out the surgery, Wang Haiyang did not really spend much time talking about the surgery itself. Most of the time, he just made small talk. And the more he chatted, the more excited he became.

Wang Haiyang only turned serious again when it was time to suture the blood vessels. He started to talk about a few key points related to blood vessel suturing.

Kong Xiangming and the others listened earnestly as they looked at the screen.

The doctors from the Department of Orthopedics Surgery were beginners when it came to finger replantation surgery. The difference between them and beginners, who were medical interns and resident doctors, was that they were already acquainted with the basics as well as concepts of carrying out a surgery. Therefore, even though it would be easy for them to grasp the basics of finger replantation surgery, it would not be any easier for them to master it when compared with medical interns and resident doctors.

It would be hard for surgeons to go from being a beginner to a master purely through studying and repeated practice. The most effective way was to have someone teach them hands-on.

It was the same for all skills that were not mastered by many in human society. When one reached a high level, one could only polish one’s skills with hands-on guidance from a master.

Of course, people nowadays did not need to go through a solemn ceremony to acknowledge someone as their master. But they would have no say in the master’s desire to teach them and the master’s methods. Without sufficient knowledge, apprentices did not even know what the masters should teach. How were they able to have any say?

That was the situation Kong Xiangming and the others were in right then. They wanted to hear some important points related to finger replantation from Wang Haiyang. But since Wang Haiyang wanted to talk about other things, they could only comply and please the other party.

The hardships one had to endure when learning a skill was something that remained unchanged throughout the thousands of years in human history. It was just that the skills themselves were ever-evolving.

“When it comes to suturing blood vessels under the microscope, you just need to put in a few months of dedicated practice to master the basics. Yun Hua Hospital’s simulation training space is specifically built as a practice space for junior doctors. If you ask me, I’d say that it’s pretty useful…” Wang Haiyang took the opportunity to boast about his own department.

Kong Xiangming immediately played along with him and said, “Yun Hua Hospital’s simulation training space has been long renowned. If I have the chance, I’d like to go there and give it a try.”

“Department Director Jin has had intentions of expanding the simulation training space. I don’t know how that’s going right now,” Wang Haiyang casually said before he started to talk about the surgery again. “The biggest problem for those who practice blood vessel suturing in the simulation training space is that the knots they make may not be secure enough…”

Wang Haiyang did not even need to interrupt himself. He waited for Ling Ran to pull another blood vessel out for him and said, “Take this blood vessel as an example. It’s not very difficult to suture it with twenty-four stitches. But if the knots aren’t secure enough, it might lead to vasospasm. When that happens, you won’t be able to salvage anything…”

Kong Xiangming and the others nodded in unison as they listened to him.

There would be a very high probability of necrosis if a replanted finger were to experience vasospasm. It was the worse postoperative complication that could happen.

“Not many people know how to make secure knots on blood vessels. You can’t master it by practicing on rat tails because you can only observe the blood supply to the rat’s tail on the day itself. Vasospasms only happen a few days after surgery…” Wang Haiyang kept the listeners in suspense again and said, “There are quite a lot of ways to make secure knots on blood vessels. I’ll talk about the most effective one.”

Even though no one could see Wang Haiyang’s face as he looked through the microscope, it was obvious from his voice that he was in a state of excitement. Needless to say, this was when the apprentices got to benefit.

Everyone was all ears, as though they were listening to secrets of the trade.

Wang Haiyang said with a chuckle, “The method that we use the most, which is also the best method, is not worth the mention to put it bluntly. Nevertheless, the way is to suture it in one go.

“In one go?”

“Match the two severed ends together and make one stitch after another. If twenty-four stitches are required, make only twenty-four stitches; nothing more, nothing less. Don’t hold the vessel for too long, suture it as quickly as possible.” At that moment, Wang Haiyang raised his head to look at everyone’s expression and continued with a smile, “It’s the same as a piece of paper gauze, which would become useless if you poke a hole through it. Ling Ran, why don’t you suture this artery? Are you confident?”

“No problem.” Ling Ran looked very indifferent.

Wang Haiyang flashed a proud smile and said, “Let’s switch positions then.”

Ling Ran then switched positions with Wang Haiyang.

Even though the chief surgeon and the first assistant sat facing each other, their view of the surgical area was different. The difference was like looking at one’s own palm and looking at the palm of another person who stood facing you. The chief surgeon should have the view of the surgical area he was most familiar with so that he could perform well.

After listening to the tips from Wang Haiyang, Kong Xiangming and the others wore expressions that made them look as if they had all been simultaneously enlightened.

Once Ling Ran took the position of chief surgeon, Wang Haiyang spoke more freely.

To some extent, Wang Haiyang seemed more like a narrator.

Even though the other doctors listened happily to him, Kong Xiangming’s many years of experience as a doctor allowed him to sense that something was unusual.

Even though he considered bringing it up, he did not do so in the end.

Kong Xiangming still had a certain amount of confidence in Chief Physician Wang Haiyang, who had come as a freelance surgeon.

In the current healthcare environment, if a freelance surgery ended in failure, the patient himself aside, the freelance surgeon who acted as the chief surgeon would be the one to suffer the greatest amount of loss. The hospital where the freelance surgery was carried out would only be held responsible as an institution. At most, they would need to give financial compensation.

Kong Xiangming believed that Wang Haiyang would not dare let Ling Ran practice in the middle of a freelance surgery. However, when he gave it further thought, he wondered what Wang Haiyang’s aim in passing the position of chief surgeon to Ling Ran was if not to allow Ling Ran to practice his skills.

Both Ling Ran as well as Wang Haiyang had their heads lowered, and their expressions could not be discerned.

Kong Xiangming did not bother to ask the old and cunning Wang Haiyang about it. He simply wore the kind of expression one had when asking for advice. When Wang Haiyang took a break from speaking, he asked, “Doctor Ling, what’s your strategy when it comes to suturing blood vessels?”

Ling Ran, who had not talked much during the surgery, answered honestly, “I don’t have an exact strategy.”

“What about in the context of this patient?”

“Right now, the patient’s blood vessels are slightly hardened. I’m suturing it according to the way senior citizens’ blood vessels are sutured.” Ling Ran then asked a nurse to pour some saline solution that contained heparin on the patient’s blood vessel. Once the blood vessel moistened, he began to suture it without notifying anyone.

Kong Xiangming suddenly understood. Wang Haiyang must have acted strangely because he found hardened blood vessels hard to suture. He even deliberately asked Ling Ran if he was confident about doing it.

Kong Xiangming reckoned that this meant Wang Haiyang was not totally confident in suturing hardened blood vessels.

Hence, Kong Xiangming reached a conclusion: Wang Haiyang allowed Ling Ran to suture a blood vessel that he himself was not confident in suturing.

Kong Xiangming himself was shocked by this.

Regardless of what his thoughts were, the screen above the operating table showed that Ling Ran was suturing the blood vessel, stitch after stitch.

If earlier Ling Ran was running a marathon while carrying Wang Haiyang on his back, now, he was running a marathon while Wang Haiyang pushed him from behind. Even though his pace was slightly affected, the moment he got used to it, he was able to run quickly in a relaxed manner again.

For some time, no one in the operating theater said anything. Just as Kong Xiangming thought of a new subject, Ling Ran finished suturing an artery.

“Should we suture two more?” Ling Ran raised his head to ask Wang Haiyang.

“Sure, let’s suture four today.” Wang Haiyang did not reclaim his position as chief surgeon. Not only that, he did not even show the slightest hint of embarrassment.

He brought Ling Ran there because he fancied Ling Ran’s abilities.

He had a certain degree of confidence that he himself would be able to suture the hardened blood vessel well. He was definitely one of the top surgeons among the doctors in the Hand Surgery Department. But why did he have to do it personally?

Was it not better to let young doctors carry out this sort of meticulous and “menial” task?

Wang Haiyang was used to Ling Ran’s habits, and he knew that Ling Ran would be able to do something well if he said that he was confident about it. Hence, he let Ling Ran suture those blood vessels without any reservations. As the old saying went, “You judge an old person’s worth by his experience and wisdom, not by his physical abilities.” Wang Haiyang was not interested in lowering his head to wrestle with that hardened blood vessel.

Who would have thought that Boss Cha, who was just over forty years old, would possess blood vessels that were as hardened as those of seventy-year-olds?

If Wang Haiyang were to suture the blood vessel, he reckoned that he would have to put in quite a lot of effort. The surgery may even be an hour or two longer because of that.

However, Ling Ran looked like he was ready to take on the challenge. In the beginning, Wang Haiyang was a little panic-stricken as he watched Ling Ran suture the blood vessel. But after he observed for a while longer, he relaxed.

Kong Xiangming immediately lost interest in talking, and he just looked at Ling Ran’s suturing of the blood vessels. A lot of thoughts ran through his head.

He was a very experienced orthopedist who became a department director two years ago. He had led his team on his own for six or seven years, and had also carried out finger replantation surgeries when he was forced to.

Even though Yiyuan County was located in a remote area, it was an industrial-based county. Every now and then, patients who had their fingers severed in accidents would regularly come to seek treatment. Some of those patients could neither afford the few thousand RMB required to travel to and fro larger hospitals, nor afford to hire freelance surgeons. That was why there were patients who requested to have their finger replantation surgery carried out locally.

In truth, many patients had no awareness of how much skill it required to perform amputated finger replantations at all. They thought that it was just like any ordinary bone reconnection surgery. As the elite of the Department of Orthopedics Surgery, even though Kong Xiangming rejected half of those patients, he did carry out finger replantation surgeries on some of them. However, they were not very successful.

Nonetheless, the possession of such basics was what gave Kong Xiangming the confidence to develop finger replantation surgery in his department.

But as he watched Ling Ran work, Kong Xiangming’s tiny bit of confidence started to fade again.

“Yun Hua Hospital is indeed worthy of praise,” Kong Xiangming suddenly said emotionally. The other doctors voiced their agreement.

Wang Haiyang raised his head proudly to accept all their praises.

Ling Ran raised his head too. “I’m done suturing.”

“Huh, you’re done?” Kong Xiangming had been a little absentminded earlier. At that moment, he subconsciously looked at his watch and freaked out. ‘He didn’t just suture them carelessly, right? This is so anxiety-provoking…’

“I’ll suture the nerves, too. Is that okay?” Ling Ran took the initiative to ask because he always felt very good when he acted as chief surgeon for patients who would not be admitted to his hospital later.

“I’ll leave it up to you then,” Wang Haiyang said, knowing that it was the right thing to do.

“Do you guys want to suture the skin?” After a while, Ling Ran asked the rest, displaying the good will of sharing.