The Surgeon’s Studio

After he finished changing, Professor Rudolf Wagner entered the console room outside the operating theater.

Through the leaded glass, he saw the patient positioned at a strange angle. Before he could take a closer look, a tiny woman asked, “Who are you?”

Chief Xia from gastroenterology was confused by Professor Rudolf Wagner’s entrance.

“Chief Xia, this is Professor Rudolf Wagner from Heidelberg University.” Xie Yiren made the introductions, being familiar with the professor after he had assisted in Zheng Ren’s surgeries the night before.

Chief Xia was at a loss for words. When had a German professor come to the hospital? Normally, the hospital’s publicity would be off the charts when a professor came for a visit and exchange.

Could the man be a fraud?

She stared at Professor Rudolf Wagner doubtfully.

“I’m here for Zheng, beautiful lady,” Professor Rudolf Wagner explained in stiff Mandarin.

“You’re looking for Dr. Zheng? Why?” Chief Xia asked without thinking.

“Zheng has God’s own hands,” he answered, “I wish to form a research team on a novel surgical method with him, but Zheng has rejected my offer.”

Chief Xia began sweating profusely.

Her first instinct told her that this foreign-looking expert was a fraud conspiring with Zheng Ren.

However, on second thought, it was pointless to be in denial.

Was he telling the truth?

She hesitated.

“Professor, you specialize in…” Chief Xia asked.

“Interventional surgery,” Professor Rudolf Wagner said. “I began performing TIPS surgery twenty years ago. To date, I’ve completed more than three hundred TIPS surgeries and am probably one of the doctors in the world with the most under their belt.”

This was an impressive number and the professor knew it.

It was rare to find an interventional surgeon who had done more than a hundred TIPS surgeries, but he had accomplished thrice that.

In terms of experience, no one could match him.

Especially since TIPS surgery required experience and luck… Professor Rudolf Wagner felt slightly disappointed as he thought of luck.

Many years ago, he had tried to improve the surgery to reduce its reliance on luck, but failed.

Perhaps it was a test from God. The adage placated him somewhat.

Chief Xia’s eyes widened upon hearing Professor Rudolf Wagner’s words.

If… if the professor was telling the truth, there was hope for her old classmate.

Truthfully, Chief Xia doubted that a young doctor like Zheng Ren could complete a TIPS surgery, especially an emergency one.

The possibility of that happening was near zero.

There was a vast difference between an emergency and non-emergency surgery, especially one that involved hematemesis and ascites.

An ordinary TIPS surgery required the patient be in the supine position with local anesthesia on the neck region. If the patient felt pain during the puncture, a dose of Dolantin would easily solve the problem.

On the other hand, patients in emergency TIPS surgery vomiting blood could end up choking on their own blood in that position.

That was why the patient had been placed in the lateral position for surgery, even if it was a little awkward…

Professor Rudolf Wagner was surprised to see the goings-on in the operating room.

Zheng was too daring!

This was TIPS surgery. A tiny mistake would lead to failure.

This was the man’s first time performing it and he had still chosen to use such an awkward position.

Professor Rudolf Wagner could foresee Zheng Ren’s disappointment after failing the surgery.

Let me save you, Eastern boy.

He kept the lid on his smugness.

In the operating room, the puncture on the jugular vein and insertion of the jugular sheath had been completed as they were not difficult.

What came next was crucial. Professor Rudolf Wagner wrapped his arms around his body, his entire focus on the screen.

After angiographic catheter insertion, suction commenced at an exceedingly slow and cautious pace due to the patient’s constant spasms and blood-soaked retching. This emergency surgery was incomparable to any ordinary surgery.

At the same time, the live surgery broadcasting room of Xinglin Garden went insane.

Hemostasis with emergency TIPS surgery! This was the most difficult surgery streamed yet.

A few did not understand the hype around TIPS surgery, but were soon clued in by ecstatic general surgeons and interventional doctors.

The procedure was not very clear, but portal-azygos disconnection was a textbook method, known to all physicians who had been through medical school.

[The surgeon’s about to defy fate!]

[They’re going to perform an emergency TIPS surgery with the patient in a lateral position… if every surgery in the past hadn’t been successful, I would have called this a failure already.]

[Just wait for the news of success, whelp. I have a hunch that this surgeon will achieve victory again if no accidents happen.]

[On that note, post-operative complications of TIPS surgery can be a handful. A few days ago, I received a patient who underwent TIPS surgery three months ago; he had been suffering from hepatic encephalopathy ever since the procedure.]

[There’s usually no choice. It’s between surgery and death. What would you have done?]

[Let’s play a game; those who guess correctly will get a reward. How many punctures do you think the surgeon will have to perform before they succeed?]

Most doctors present did not even understand the question. It was too technical and would never even come close to the domain of those not from general surgery or interventional radiology.

Locally, only hospitals at a provincial level or higher could perform such a surgery.

Failing that, they would invite experts and professors to come over and perform it. One or two successful cases would be sufficient for them to brag about for a year.

Meaningless as it was, it was clout.

It was also part of their culture.

[Twenty times!]

[I think the surgeon will fail. The patient kept moving onscreen and is probably vomiting blood.]

[How would one even develop the images with lateral positioning…]

[The machine can be adjusted. However, the angle makes the surgery more difficult. I’m starting to pity the surgeon who has to perform the surgery under such circumstances.]

[I think it can be accomplished within ten attempts. We invited a professor from Imperial Capital who succeeded on the tenth try.]

[That’s just luck. A few years back, we also invited a famous professor from Sorcery Capital to perform TIPS surgery, but he failed even after thirty attempts. I think the patient’s liver was perforated from all the punctures but the portal and hepatic veins remained out of reach.]

The viewers’ experiences soon fully conveyed the difficulty of the operation to all present.

Many of the doctors were dismayed from the descriptions of TIPS alone.

What kind of surgery was this? It was more like an attempt on the doctor’s own life.

The procedure required quite a bit of luck. Multiple punctures would seriously injure the liver and increase the risk of hepatic encephalopathy after surgery.

Either reason was enough for the doctor to give up.

If they refused to get involved, the life and death of the patient would not be on their hands.

If they did, and the patient died or suffered from serious hepatic encephalopathy, there was a high chance of a medical dispute after.

This… this surgeon was truly brave.