My Medical Skills Give Me Experience Points

Chapter 1332: Chapter 526: Challenging a Top-Tier Surgery, A Glimmer of Insight

Opening the dural barrier is essentially a direct entry.

First, drain the intracranial blood.

Even though this is the simplest step, Director Wu Yongming is still very cautious. When aspirating the intracranial fluid, errors can easily occur, damaging important brain tissue.

Deputy Director Lu’s intracranial environment is even more severe, far surpassing ordinary patients in terms of risk.

Not to mention anything else, just the severe aging, hardening, and brittleness of the blood vessels are enough to make the surgeons walk on thin ice.

After draining most of the intracranial blood, the intracranial pressure is basically back to normal. Or rather, slightly below the normal level.

Because the original cranial cavity was closed, now two holes have been opened, equivalent to half-open.

Medically, this is called fenestration.

The surgery is progressing smoothly.

But trouble soon arose.

Simply draining the blood is far from enough; without stopping the bleeding, the cavity can quickly fill up again.

Director Wu Yongming attempts to repair the ruptured blood vessels. Not to mention anastomosis, even debridement encounters difficulty.

"No, the location of this blood vessel is too close to the brainstem. The operating space is extremely narrow, and I’m not confident in endoscopic hemostasis."

Beads of sweat the size of mung beans appear on his forehead as he shakes his head repeatedly.

It’s as if a terrifying beast blocks the path ahead.

The level of surgical skill in routine operations is actually about the same for everyone. At the very least, reaching the normal level allows for the successful completion of surgery.

Using the words of a certain surgical expert, surgery is about removing lesions and patching things up.

Of course, this surgical expert said these words back in the 1960s.

With the development of surgical medical technology to the present, it is no longer just about patching things up and excising tissue. Many new technologies have been applied: artificial blood vessels, vascular stents, artificial hearts, and more.

Even merely repairing blood vessels or organs, tissues challenges a doctor’s skills immensely.

Repairing blood vessels in the narrow intracranial space, especially with endoscopic surgery, is even more challenging—almost like a hell-level difficulty.

Right next to the brainstem, surrounded by other important brain tissues, doctors with slightly weaker psychological tolerance might find their hands trembling when manipulating the endoscope arms.

It’s no exaggeration.

Doctors, especially surgeons, endure psychological and mental pressures during surgery beyond imagination.

Because if something happens to the patient, the surgeon is responsible!

"The damage area of this blood vessel isn’t particularly large, the length is quite short, and it’s very close to the brainstem, making operations extremely inconvenient. Director Wu, why not try repairing with a vascular stent?"

Director Gou Qiong offers suggestions beside him.

"If it were a small cerebral aneurysm, I could use a coil to fix it. Even for a slightly larger aneurysm, placing a stent might repair it. But this blood vessel simply can’t use a stent."

He shakes his head repeatedly, dismissing the suggestion.

Drilling holes and creating fenestrations in the skull are primarily to drain intracranial fluid, relieving intracranial pressure.

Secondly, it’s to repair the blood vessels to stop the bleeding.

Not all vascular repairs are suitable for stent placement.

Firstly, stents are very expensive. Secondly, the difficulty of operation is also extremely high, especially placing a stent in intracranial arterial vessels, which is frighteningly challenging.

"Or...perhaps you could assist me by moving the brain tissue above the bleeding point slightly, and let me try it!"

Zhou Can sees the bleeding cerebral artery, a hint of excitement in his eyes.

Completely different from Director Wu Yongming’s eyes showing fear, Director Wu is filled with dread, having no confidence to challenge, and indeed lacks assurance. Zhou Can is full of determination, like a fearless warrior.

"Dr. Zhou, you must be careful not to overextend. Absolutely, absolutely don’t be reckless. If it doesn’t work out, we can reconvene for another consultation and discuss other surgical plans."

Even as Wu Yongming says this, he knows in his heart that there are no other surgical plans.

If there were a better surgical plan, it wouldn’t be dragged out without treatment.

If it’s Internal Medicine medication, sometimes there might be other alternative plans. But for ruptured intracranial arterial vessels, there really aren’t many usable plans—just two or three options.

"I will be exceptionally careful."

Zhou Can responds forcefully, with a serious expression.

After taking over as the chief surgeon, he first directs Director Wu to help move the brain tissue aside. This operation requires a certain level of skill, but it mostly resembles a physical task like retracting.

Of course, with the help of the endoscope arms, the actual physical exertion is not significant.

Next, Zhou Can attempts to operate in the extremely cramped space.

"No, it needs to be moved a bit further, around 0.5CM should suffice."

"Alright, I’ll try."

Director Wu grits his teeth, eyes intensely focused, slowly compressing and moving the brain tissue to give Zhou Can more operating space.

"It can’t be moved any further; this is the limit. Moving more could severely damage the brain tissue."

Director Wu doesn’t dare to take his eyes off the screen, even controlling the volume of his voice, fearing the increased force might damage the brain tissue.

Whether in the abdominal cavity or the cranial cavity, during surgery, moving the surrounding tissues inevitably causes harm to the body.

The operated abdominal and thoracic cavities often experience severe adhesion of tissues and organs, causing a series of negative long-term effects for the patient, which can be termed postoperative complications or sequelae.