Overpowered Resident Doctor

Chapter 431: Chapter 430: I Will Bear the Consequences

Liang Zhao Kui hurried to the entrance of Observation Room 3, only to see a tall, young doctor with slicked-back hair pressing fully charged defibrillator paddles against the patient’s chest.

Holy shit!

The sight sent a jolt through Liang Zhao Kui. He yelled frantically, "Don’t! Stop—"

The words had barely left his lips when the powerful current surged through the patient. The man’s one-hundred-eighty-pound body shot several inches into the air before falling back limply onto the bed.

Liang Zhao Kui’s expression turned livid, and his eyes were murderous.

"Well, we’ve got a heartbeat..."

But the triumphant announcement did nothing to soften Liang Zhao Kui’s expression.

He strode to the bedside, grabbed the young doctor by the arm and shoved him aside, then pulled the nearby ultrasound machine closer.

The young doctor stumbled back several steps from the force of the shove before regaining his balance.

He saw it was Mr. Liang, his department head. Seeing him rush to perform an ultrasound on the patient’s heart, the young doctor suppressed the look of indignation that rose to his face.

Suddenly, a voice spoke up beside him.

"You really messed up..."

The young doctor turned toward the voice and saw the attending physician who had just hurried over.

"This patient was brought in last night. He has a coronary artery aneurysm and myocardial ischemia."

When the young doctor heard this, his heart plummeted.

He finally understood why he’d been shoved aside so forcefully.

A coronary artery aneurysm is extremely vulnerable to strong external stimuli. If it were to rupture, the consequences would be catastrophic.

That was why the nurse before him had only been performing manual chest compressions to maintain the heartbeat, instead of using the defibrillator.

In his eagerness to prove himself, the young doctor had been far too negligent and careless.

’It was an unforgivable error!’

The attending physician’s voice sounded again. "He should have gone into surgery last night, but he has panda blood. The hospital doesn’t have a large enough reserve..."

"But... I guess your luck isn’t completely rotten today..."

The sudden turn in conversation gave the young doctor a glimmer of hope, his sunken heart lifting slightly.

He glanced at the ultrasound monitor. The shifting images on the screen showed no signs of fluid buildup.

That meant no blood in the chest cavity—the patient’s coronary artery aneurysm hadn’t ruptured.

The young doctor breathed a small sigh of relief.

’The worst-case scenario hadn’t happened. His actions wouldn’t be punished too severely.’

But the next dynamic image that appeared on the ultrasound monitor made the young doctor’s heart plummet once more.

A liquid-filled bulge had appeared on the myocardium of the right atrium.

It meant the patient’s coronary artery aneurysm had ruptured after all. The blood was just temporarily contained against the heart’s surface by the myocardial tissue.

"Prep him for surgery. Now."

It was Liang Zhao Kui’s voice. "How much blood do we have on hand?"

"Mr. Liang, we only have three units right now," someone answered quickly. "There are another eleven units on the way, but they’re stuck in traffic. It’ll be at least two hours."

"What the hell good are three units?!"

Liang Zhao Kui’s voice was seething. "In two hours? The patient will be dead by then!"

"That blood sac is going to burst in less than half an hour."

"Put out an emergency broadcast. Find anyone in the hospital or the vicinity with Rh-negative AB blood and get them to donate."

The Rh-negative blood type is distinct from the A, B, O, and AB blood types.

The latter group is more evenly distributed throughout the population, making donors for those blood types relatively easy to find.

Rh-negative, however, is a rare blood type, accounting for less than 1% of the ABO blood group population. It’s often called "panda blood."

In China, this blood type is even rarer. Among the Han Chinese and other ethnic minorities, Rh-negative individuals make up only about 0.34% of the total population.

Among them, people with Rh-negative A, Rh-negative B, and Rh-negative O blood types each account for about 0.102% of the total population.

Meanwhile, those with Rh-negative AB blood make up a mere 0.034%.

Liang Zhao Kui knew the emergency broadcast was little more than a shot in the dark. But with no other options, he had to take the chance.

Just then, a voice spoke up.

"Mr. Liang, perhaps we could perform a temporary external bypass. It could buy the patient a few hours."

Liang Zhao Kui, who was wheeling the patient out of the observation room with an assistant, turned to see who had spoken.

It was Yan Feifan.

The young man hadn’t left; he must have followed them over at some point.

Had it been anyone else, Liang Zhao Kui would have dismissed the suggestion out of hand. But this was Yan Feifan—the resident genius, Yan Feifan...

"Explain."

Yan Feifan placed a hand on the other side of the gurney’s railing, helping to push as he quickly explained, "We perform a percutaneous vascular puncture and inject an embolic agent at both ends of the aneurysm."

The embolic agent consists of granular particles that expand rapidly upon absorbing water.

Injecting an embolic agent is a common emergency procedure used in clinical settings to control major vascular hemorrhaging.

Yan Feifan continued, "Then, we create a simple external cardiac bypass around the embolized section of the artery to maintain blood supply to the myocardium."

"This stopgap procedure only requires a small thoracotomy, keeping blood loss to a manageable level."

Liang Zhao Kui said, "It’s a good theory."

"But the question is..."

He asked doubtfully, "Can you really perform a perfectly precise, first-try puncture into a vessel on a constantly beating heart?"

"That’s a coronary artery we’re talking about. If you miss the puncture, or if you perforate the atrial wall... I don’t need to spell out the consequences."

Yan Feifan considered this for a moment. "Mr. Liang, I can’t guarantee success, but I’m willing to try."

Liang Zhao Kui rapidly weighed his options.

’If they went straight for an open-chest resection of the coronary aneurysm, the patient would almost certainly die from blood loss.’

’Yan Feifan’s method was theoretically sound, but it carried enormous risks as well.’

The section of myocardium stretched thin by the blood sac was now incredibly fragile. The slightest misstep during the procedure could easily trigger a cardiac rupture.

It demanded an operator with an intimate knowledge of the heart, flawless and decisive technique, and nerves of steel.

’Liang Zhao Kui knew he wouldn’t dare take such a risk himself.’

’You get more timid with age.’

Liang Zhao Kui sighed inwardly. He turned his gaze back to Yan Feifan. "Aren’t you afraid of the failure... and the fallout?"

Yan Feifan seemed taken aback for a second. "I haven’t thought that far ahead."

"Mr. Liang, given the circumstances, this method gives the patient a chance to survive. At the very least, it’s a better chance."

A pang of shame hit Liang Zhao Kui as he heard those words.

By now, they had pushed the gurney to the isolation doors of the surgical wing.

Liang Zhao Kui had finally made his decision.

"Mr. Yan, I’m asking you to lead this external bypass procedure."

"I’ll take full responsibility for any and all consequences."