This doctor is already middle-aged, and he's only just started practicing medicine.

Chapter 4 My eyesight failed me… (Please add to your favorites)
At 10 a.m., the sun was blazing, the air was hazy, and cicadas were chirping incessantly.

In the emergency department of Longxian People's Hospital, in the doctor's office.

Lu Chengben was reporting to Associate Professor Chen Song on the indications for spleen-preserving surgery that he had just summarized when the phone rang, disrupting their rhythm.

“Teacher Chen, it’s Zeng Huanqi from the surgical clinic…” Lu Cheng explained before answering the phone, his voice tinged with laughter: “Brother Zeng.”

"A sickle wound, the incision is uneven. Okay, I'll be right there." Lu Cheng said after searching for the key tags on the medical record:
"Teacher Chen, it's a simple sickle wound. I can treat it myself. You can rest for a bit. I'll ask you for advice later."

Chen Song lost interest when he heard it was just a simple sickle wound.

He placed his hands behind his head, stretched out a long way, turned his legs outwards as if stretching, and hummed softly, "Hmm... I'll come and take a look after you're done."

Lu Cheng put on a mask, stood up to keep out the faint smell of disinfectant, and quickly left the doctor's office toward the surgical emergency room.

As soon as Lu Cheng arrived at the clinic door, Zeng Huanqi, who was on duty, said to the patient, "Dr. Lu is here. He will take you to the wound cleaning room to treat your wound. You can pay by scanning the code or at the window."

"Brother Zeng, have you checked the wound? How deep is the cut?" Lu Cheng asked cautiously.

Zeng Huanqi understood Lu Cheng's meaning: "I only glanced at it briefly. It's about 6 millimeters deep and 5 centimeters long. There's no tendon damage. You can check it carefully again when you go to the debridement room to rinse it."

“I’ve already told the patient that if there’s a tendon injury during the next examination, he might have to be referred.”

Patients with tendon injuries have even gotten into lawsuits with orthopedic specialists at hospitals, so the emergency department is unlikely to want to get into that kind of trouble easily.

The patient, in his fifties, with graying temples, dark skin, and yellow teeth when he smiled, said, "I just accidentally cut my hand while cutting grass for the cows. It's not that serious enough to warrant a transfer to another hospital, is it? You doctors just love to scare people like this."

Zeng Huanqi tugged at his mask to breathe: "Uncle, this isn't meant to scare you. If our hospital can't do it, we just can't. In the tech industry, who wants to easily admit they're not good at it?"

"Of course, this is only a possibility. We'll have to wait until Dr. Lu finishes his examination to determine the specifics."

Lu Cheng entered the consultation room and took a few standard consultation and signing templates for wound cleaning and suturing. He politely said, "Uncle, please come this way with me... Do you want to pay by scanning a code or at the window?"

Paying for medical treatment is a matter of course. Unless it's a life-threatening emergency, Lu Cheng wouldn't dare to proceed without confirming payment.

Once the procedure is performed, a fee will definitely be charged!

Either the patient pays or Lu Cheng makes up the difference, but Lu Cheng, who only earns a few thousand yuan a month, can't afford to lose that much.

"Scan the code."

"Doctor, could you scan me? I'll enter the password." The middle-aged man's right hand was injured, making it slightly inconvenient for him to operate the device.

After the payment was completed, Lu Cheng briefly explained some precautions for wound cleaning and suturing to the patient, and then had him sign his name with his trembling left hand.

After Lu Cheng retrieved the wound cleaning and suturing kit, he led the patient into the wound cleaning room. He instructed the patient to lie down and place the hand support on his right side before Lu Cheng slowly untied the temporary bandage for hemostasis.

Zeng Huanqi had opened the wound before; it hadn't scabbed over, but Lu Cheng still handled it with considerable care...

The patient stared at the ceiling and sighed, "Seeing a doctor is such a hassle these days. You have to sign here and there. Doctors, do you just want to push all the responsibility onto the patients?"

Lu Cheng shook his head and said, "Uncle, this isn't about shirking responsibility; it's about respecting the patient's right to informed consent."

"This has happened many times. The doctor has finished suturing the patient and the recovery is good, but the patient hasn't signed the consent form. The patient then sues the doctor, and the doctor wins every time. The doctor who performed the procedure has to pay compensation. Once a doctor is sued, four or five months of work are wasted."

"Uncle... your wound isn't deep, and there's no tendon damage, so you don't need to be referred. But there's still dirt and rust in the wound, so remember to get a tetanus shot after the procedure."

"Tetanus bacteria are particularly easy to hide in rust."

The middle-aged man frowned and said, "Aren't those who file complaints humane, and aren't the officials also inhumane? They didn't even cause any problems, yet they want the doctor to compensate for an egg?"

"Making the procedures so complicated, it's still us ordinary people who suffer."

Lu Cheng chuckled, picked up the saline solution and began rinsing, then said gently, "The patient's right to informed consent should still be respected. Some patients have high demands and hope to be treated in better hospitals, which is of course their freedom."

"Furthermore, coming to the hospital for treatment is not as simple as getting a TV fan fixed. If something goes wrong, even if it can be repaired, the patient will suffer more."

"Even TV repairmen can't guarantee that the TV will be fixed and won't break down again. Treating a patient is hundreds of times more troublesome than repairing a TV..."

"If we doctors were responsible for every little problem that arose, then we would have run away long ago."

Lu Cheng said somewhat garrulously, "It's all set. Now we can clean and suture the wound. I'll go prepare some local anesthetic for you. The first injection might hurt a little when you get the anesthesia, so please bear with it."

Talking and communicating more with patients is beneficial to the doctor-patient relationship. A large part of the doctor-patient disputes are essentially due to inadequate communication. Lu Cheng had not had the opportunity to perform surgery before, so he spent some time studying these things.

The uncle chuckled, "That's true. What doctor can guarantee 100% that every treatment will be effective?" "Although we ordinary people hope so, doctors are, after all, only human."

"But when we're sick, we have no choice but to see you doctors... Why are there so many illnesses these days..."

Lu Cheng did not reply. He quickly prepared the diluted lidocaine local anesthetic, placed it on a sterile sheet, removed his examination gloves, and put on sterile surgical gloves again.

"Uncle, the first injection of local anesthesia will hurt a little, but it won't hurt after the anesthesia takes effect... Please bear with it..." Lu Cheng's voice was gentle, but his actions were swift and decisive, showing no mercy.

The faster the local anesthesia is performed, the shorter the duration of pain for the patient; the more the patient hesitates or agonizes over it, the more severe and prolonged the pain will be.

The middle-aged man didn't even blink: "Dr. Lu, where are you from?"

“My hometown is Zhaoshi Town. Uncle, the operation is about to begin, so don’t say anything yet.” Lu Cheng’s operation method and sequence were very academic, step by step, and very honest.

Lu Cheng meticulously used tweezers and gauze to examine the entire wound, cleaning away the mud and rust before beginning to trim the jagged edges.

Debridement is not only about removing foreign objects and necrotic tissue, but also about trimming the incision to facilitate wound healing. It is an important part of the debridement procedure.

Debridement is a fundamental skill in surgery, and it is a technique that Lu Cheng is proficient in and has had extensive experience with.

Lu Cheng made his incision without hesitation, his movements were smooth and skillful, and once he started sewing, he was even more adept, his needlework and knot-tying were effortless...

What Lu Cheng didn't notice was that Chen Song, who was really bored and had rested enough, had wandered to the door of the wound cleaning room and was peeking in!
"Hmm?" Chen Song uttered a soft murmur—his flat eyes narrowed to just slits.

Lu Cheng's right hand holding the needle holder was very steady. He applied enough force with each step of the suturing operation, but without being violent.

The needle insertion and withdrawal operations are crisp and skillful, the choice of needle entry and exit points is expert, the angle of needle passage is quite tricky, and the needle spacing is distinct and precise. This level of skill is clearly not just a basic skill level...

Lu Cheng worked quickly, finishing the suturing in four or five minutes, and then applying the outermost dressing: "Uncle, it's done. Go get a tetanus shot later. Be careful not to get the wound wet; sweat and moisture are both bad. Come back every two or three days to change the dressing, and then you can wait for the stitches to be removed..."

"You can go to a nearby pharmacy or clinic to change the dressing and remove the stitches."

"If there is a clinic in the village, you can switch."

"Oh, okay." The middle-aged man nodded, not caring whether Lu Cheng's stitching was good or not.

He wouldn't have come to the hospital if he hadn't been bleeding so much and couldn't stop; now that the bleeding has stopped, he's considered to have gotten through it.

The most honest and simple people in China are very easy to please.

"Remember to get a tetanus shot! Rusty sickles are a perfect hiding place for tetanus bacteria, so don't be careless!" Lu Cheng repeatedly reminded him...

“Okay, Dr. Lu.” The middle-aged man nodded.

"After you get your tetanus shot, come back here to pick up your medical record. I'll write up the surgical procedure record for you as soon as I'm done. Be sure to come and get it." Lu Cheng turned around and smiled, giving detailed instructions.

The patient nodded and left.

After Lu Cheng tidied up the wound cleaning kit on the operating table, he noticed Chen Song staring at him as he went out. Their eyes met for more than ten seconds, but Chen Song remained silent.

Lu Cheng asked politely, "Teacher Chen, there shouldn't be any problems, right?"

Lu Cheng's tone was calm, and he meant no other.

Lu Cheng previously interned and completed his residency training at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University. While Zhongnan Hospital may not have the top-tier technology of Xiangya No. 2 Hospital, it is still one of the well-known teaching hospitals.

There, Lu Cheng, with his slight talent, was as insignificant as 'dust'. Even if he were to return to Zhongnan Hospital with his current level, he would still be just one of the most ordinary people!

Even a random PhD of the same age wouldn't necessarily be weaker than him.

If an attending physician were brought in, Lu Cheng would be forced to stand still as punishment. If an associate professor or associate chief physician were brought in, Lu Cheng would only dare to admire their skills and dream of one day reaching their level.

If it were a professor performing the surgery, Lu Cheng would wish he could cut off the professor's hand and have the hand surgeon transplant it into him.

The medical field is like a pyramid, with distinct levels and hierarchy!

Chen Song is an associate professor and deputy chief physician at Xiangya No. 2 Hospital. He's the king of all the academic geniuses. He's probably killed at least ten or twenty doctoral students with his academic prowess.

“I was mistaken the other day. I didn’t look closely enough and didn’t realize that your basic suturing skills had reached such a high level…” Chen Song had a sharp eye and immediately noticed something was wrong with Lu Cheng’s technique.

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(End of this chapter)