The Enhanced Doctor

"Brother Wu, go ahead with the internal fixation for the patient's fracture first. I'm going to discuss this with the patient's family to avoid a possible second surgery," Liu Banxia said after pondering for a while.

"What? Still suspecting the patient has an islet tumor?" Wu Mingyu asked.

Liu Banxia nodded. "Since a detailed examination cannot be carried out, it can't be confirmed for the moment. But if he does, a second surgery would be necessary. We're not even sure if the patient's head has been injured yet."

"Alright, you go," Wu Mingyu said promptly, after glancing at the patient's vital signs.

In the family waiting area, Liu Banxia looked around until he saw the patient's wife and gestured for her to come over.

"Doctor, is the operation over?" the patient's wife asked anxiously as she ran over.

"After opening the abdomen, we found a perforation in the patient's duodenum and slight damage to the apex of the pancreas. The perforation has been repaired now," Liu Banxia explained.

"But I'm puzzled by something. The blood test indicated that the patient's glucose level was rather low. Did you all have lunch?"

The patient's wife nodded. "Yes, the accident happened on the way to the tutoring class right after lunch."

"In that case, his blood glucose level is even more abnormal. We suspect there may be a pancreatic islet tumor, but a brief examination didn't find anything."

"Has the patient shown any other unusual behaviors recently? Oh, and his arm fracture is being treated now; you don't need to worry. The orthopedic surgeon handling it is very skilled."

"Recently... nothing too unusual. He was laid off less than half a month ago, and his mood hasn't been very good. He sleeps late at night and doesn't seem very energetic during the day. But he definitely doesn't drink or do drugs. All our money goes to our child's tutoring classes," the patient's wife responded.

Liu Banxia frowned. "I understand; the blood test and drug test confirmed that. Is there anything else? Any other unusual behavior?"

"Does his recent forgetfulness count? He promised to take our child to the movies but never did. Our kid didn't dare to ask because he seemed to be in a bad mood," the patient's wife mentioned.

"Okay, I'll go back and check more carefully. If I do find a pancreatic islet tumor, I'll come out and let you know," Liu Banxia promised.

"Doctor, I beg you, you must save them both! Our Pengpeng is also undergoing surgery for intestinal bleeding. No matter the cost, even if I have to sell the house, I must save them," the patient's wife pleaded.

"Please don't worry. We always do our best for every patient," Liu Banxia nodded solemnly.

He knew that he had just made the patient's family nervous. As ordinary people, they were likely to panic when they heard the word 'tumor'.

"How did your observation go? Did you find any obvious tumors?" Liu Banxia asked after scrubbing his hands again and rejoining the surgery.

"We didn't find anything. Teacher Liu, could it be caused by something else?" Xu Yino inquired.

"I just asked the patient's family," Liu Banxia said. "They said that lately he has been emotionally unstable, not very spirited, and forgetful. Combined with today's coma, these are all typical symptoms of an islet tumor."

"Ah... If I had known this, I would have asked more questions and done a CT scan. I'll contact someone from the radiology department to do an intraoperative ultrasound," he added.

He really didn't want to discover an islet tumor only after the surgery was over. Even if it wouldn't be considered a surgical accident, he would find it hard to forgive himself.

Moreover, if the hospital couldn't provide a clear diagnostic report, the insurance company might not process the claim smoothly.

However, every examination incurred an additional charge. This was a matter of responsibility, and it was his last resort.

Wu Mingyu's internal fixation surgery for the fracture was going smoothly. While waiting for the radiology technician, Liu Banxia also observed for a while.

Although he was seen as a teacher by Xu Yino and the others, he was merely a student when observing Wu Mingyu's operation. General surgery and orthopedics, after all, are two different specialties, even if they both fall under surgery.

"This car accident certainly places a heavy burden on this family," Liu Banxia sighed.

"It could have been worse; the injuries from the steering wheel collision weren't that severe. Otherwise, given his blood pressure, he might not even have had a chance for rescue," Wang Lei replied.

"His blood pressure hasn't risen much so far. I'm leaning towards the patient having an islet tumor. Let's do a thorough check later; for him, this could turn a bad situation into a good one."

Everyone understood what Wang Lei meant. They all knew that a problem with the pancreas could be very serious. Currently, no obvious masses were visible. If a tumor was indeed found, it would be in its very early stages.

"Dr. Liu, what exactly is the situation? It's quite rare for an emergency patient to require an intraoperative ultrasound," Wang Jianwei from radiology asked when he arrived at the operating room.

"We suspect the patient has a pancreatic islet tumor and don't want him to undergo a second surgery after this one. So, we'll need your help," Liu Banxia explained.

"Alright, let me take a look," Wang Jianwei nodded.

The intraoperative ultrasound was truly Liu Banxia's last hope. The thought of performing a quick biopsy had crossed his mind, but a biopsy also carried risks for the patient. And without certainty, it could potentially stimulate the tumor.

Intraoperative ultrasounds are highly beneficial. Direct examination of the organ allows for higher resolution and can identify lesions undetectable by external ultrasound.

However, intraoperative ultrasounds also have their limitations. The probe is small, so the field of view is limited. Throughout the entire examination process, one must scrutinize every part of the organ with utmost patience and meticulousness.

A single oversight could lead to a missed diagnosis. This is where accountability comes into play; all of this would be documented in the surgical report.

Fortunately, the patient was also undergoing arm fracture repair, so Wang Jianwei's examination wouldn't extend the overall surgical time.

"There really is one, though it's not very big—about 0.5 cm in diameter. I've marked it," Wang Jianxin announced after observing for a while.

Everyone was already focused on the monitor, and the mark he made was clearly visible.

"Notify Pathology; bring the specimen box. Once I remove this small tumor, we'll do a rapid test," Liu Banxia said, stretching his neck.

Even though this confirms my initial judgment, the tumor is small, and it's currently impossible to determine if it's benign or malignant. There's always that 'what if' regarding malignancy.

The complexity of this surgery has just escalated significantly, from a Level 2 general surgery to Level 4. Thankfully, the tumor isn't large; otherwise, my best option right now would be to call for backup.

However, Liu Banxia didn't immediately begin the resection. He needed to further explore the tumor's positional relationship with the pancreatic duct to avoid intraoperative injury.

"It's manageable. The tumor isn't large, and there's some distance from the pancreatic duct. Given Dr. Liu's skills, I think it shouldn't be a problem," Wang Jianwei said after the examination was complete.

"I was praying the whole time. Thankfully, my prayers worked. Otherwise, I would have had to find the director. If the director wasn't available, I would have had to figure something else out," Liu Banxia remarked.

"Liang Xiaolin, contact those four again and see if Dr. Shi's surgery is finished. If it is, ask Dr. Shi to come over and supervise me, to provide support. Xu Yino, inform the patient's family; we need to communicate this clearly."

Liang Xiaolin nodded and hurried to make the call, while Xu Yino quickly ran out of the operating room.

Wang Lei was a bit surprised by Liu Banxia's cautious behavior. He had always considered Liu quite bold; otherwise, Liu wouldn't have achieved so many groundbreaking things in the Emergency Department. Now, it seemed Wang Lei needed to revisit his understanding of the young man, who was proving to be very measured. The previous cases had all been emergencies, but now Liu Banxia had more room for decision-making.

After about ten minutes, Shi Lei led his team into the room. By then, Wang Jianxin had finished the surgery he was responsible for and was beginning to apply the cast.

"Boss, here's the situation. Please back me up. Once it's over, I'll do an appendectomy for you," Liu Banxia said.

"No problem. The young patient just now had a mesenteric hemorrhage; I had Wang Chao handle it. Earlier, I had Zhang Yun help keep an eye on the Emergency Department. We can't let this happen again. We need at least three surgeons on duty from now on," Shi Lei said.

"My bad. I got flustered and completely forgot. Let's do the surgery first, and I'll reflect on it later. Time to dissect the pancreas," Liu Banxia quickly responded.

It really was his fault. He hadn't made the necessary arrangements ahead of time. Even if it was because he had been busy with surgeries recently, that wasn't a valid excuse.

However, he couldn't let these negative emotions affect him. The pancreas is very delicate. If he caused excessive damage to the patient's pancreas during the resection, it would add a significant burden to the patient's future recovery.

Liu Banxia's hands were very steady, a fact proven through countless surgeries. When Liu Banxia carefully dissected along the tumor boundary, completely resected the encapsulated tumor, and removed it, Shi Lei also let out a sigh of relief.

Even Shi Lei had to admit, this kid's hands are incredibly steady and skilled.

Hemostasis, irrigation, and abdominal closure—Liu Banxia performed all these steps himself.

DING!

Daily Task Completed (20/20)

Experience Gained: 300, Glory Points: +5

Emergency Surgery Completed.

Experience Gained: 500 points

Diagnostic Skill Proficiency +200 points

Suturing Skill Proficiency +200 points

Dressing Change Skill Proficiency +100 points

Pancreaticoduodenal Surgery Skill Proficiency +500 points

This surgery was rated: Perfect.

Experience Gained: 500 points

Diagnostic Skill Proficiency +200 points

Suturing Skill Proficiency +200 points

Dressing Change Skill Proficiency +100 points

Pancreaticoduodenal Surgery Skill Proficiency +500 points

Glory Points +5

Advanced Task: Excellent Surgeon (5/5) Completed.

Title Earned: Excellent Surgeon

Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 40 (79,135/83,500).

Attribute Point +1, Glory Points +5

System Store updating. Will be available shortly.

System updating. Will be available shortly.

Looking at the final system prompts, Liu Banxia felt a surge of anticipation. The System Store could be a rip-off sometimes, but the items it offered were genuinely good.