Chapter 158: Chapter 147: A Director’s Start! Upgrading the Assistant Team
At the research center, Yan Xi, Ling Ling, Jin Yan, and Cheng Feng quickly finished the application for the Youth Fund and submitted it online.
Wu Ting also began his regular work, rotating back and forth between the emergency department and the research center.
Next, Wu Ting would have to start his graduate studies at Jinggang University Affiliated First Hospital, which meant he would begin commuting between the two locations.
Therefore, during this time, Wu Ting performed as many surgeries as he could, especially when it came to teaching Wu’s Umbilical Hole Laparoscopic Appendectomy and tendon suturing techniques.
After Qin Donglai was promoted to deputy director, he seemed to have a whole new lease on life, his spirits higher than ever before.
Whenever he had free time, he would assist Wu Ting, learning from him to refine his surgical skills.
The essence of Wu’s Umbilical Hole Laparoscopic Appendectomy lay in the use of Wu’s Umbilical Knife and the cosmetic suturing.
Qin Donglai’s suturing skills were not bad, but compared to Wu Ting’s Grandmaster Level technique, there was still plenty of room for improvement.
Wu Ting taught him patiently, and Qin Donglai’s suturing technique gradually broke through its bottleneck.
With so many years of frontline surgical experience, Qin Donglai was a case of accumulated knowledge waiting for a breakthrough. After Wu Ting gave him guidance on a few key points, his skill level naturally improved.
Qin Donglai was on cloud nine with all the recent good fortune—a promotion and a technical breakthrough. Feeling pleased with himself, he went to chat with a few old friends.
He particularly showed off his latest tendon suturing skills to Director Zhang Zhong from the Military Hospital, with whom he often collaborated, earning a round of amazed praise.
Another day, another surgery.
In the operating room, Wu Ting was the lead surgeon, with Qin Donglai as his first assistant and Yasui as the second assistant.
The patient for this operation required an Achilles tendon repair. Drawing on his Grandmaster Level tendon repair skill, Wu Ting quickly designed a brand-new surgical plan:
Percutaneous small-incision suture and minimally invasive Achilles tendon repair!
Compared to conventional open surgery, the large incision causes greater damage to the blood supply of the Achilles tendon and paratenon, and is prone to numerous complications like wound infection, skin necrosis, delayed healing, or joint stiffness.
Therefore, Wu Ting used a minimally invasive technique, making six small incisions on the posterior and lateral sides of the Achilles tendon and suturing it percutaneously with atraumatic suture thread.
As the first assistant, Qin Donglai couldn’t help but marvel at Wu Ting’s talent and genius for Achilles tendon repair.
’This method does indeed reduce damage to the paratenon and disruption of blood circulation. However, one problem is the risk of injuring the sural nerve. It also can’t completely guarantee good apposition and tight contact of the ruptured tendon ends, leading to a higher probability of post-operative re-rupture.’
’I can’t believe it. Wu Ting is using arthroscopic monitoring for a percutaneous Kessler suture! By incorporating this minimally invasive technology, he can explore and completely clear out the hematoma and scar tissue from the ruptured ends, trim them, and ensure symmetrical stitch points and tight contact after suturing!’
The more Qin Donglai watched, the more impressed he became. He silently committed it to memory. ’You really can learn a lot by following Wu Ting,’ he thought.
’This guy... Who would have thought that on top of all his achievements in laparoscopic cholecystectomy, he’s still constantly refining his tendon repair techniques? This brand-new method must have been inspired by his extensive reading of cutting-edge journals.’
Since his promotion to deputy director, Qin Donglai had also been changing his habits. In addition to performing a large number of frontline surgeries, he was now also focusing on personal growth and continuing education outside of clinical work, setting aside time to read cutting-edge domestic and international journals.
Qin Donglai began to learn from Wu Ting, broadening his own horizons!
As Wu Ting guided Qin Donglai through the next step of the procedure, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision.
Qin Donglai turned his head to look, extremely surprised. That surprise then gave way to a sense of vigilance.
"Director Zhang, what are you doing here?"
It was none other than Zhang Zhong, the director of general surgery at the Military Hospital.
Zhang Zhong chuckled. "Well, I’ve been watching Director Qin’s surgeries for the past few days, and it got me thinking. I haven’t been too busy these last two days, so I thought I’d swing by the research center and observe Dr. Wu’s operations."
Zhang Zhong and Wu Ting were old acquaintances, so he didn’t stand on ceremony, simply staying to the side and watching quietly.
Qin Donglai frowned and continued assisting Wu Ting, but he kept a close eye on Zhang Zhong’s movements.
The man was actually observing with intense focus, muttering to himself from time to time with comments and exclamations of praise.
’Don’t tell me Zhang Zhong is here to freeload on a surgery and try to steal my assistant spot?’
Qin Donglai suddenly felt a pang of regret. He shouldn’t have been so high-profile. Now Zhang Zhong had found the secret to improving his skills!
Sure enough, just as Wu Ting and Qin Donglai finished the surgery and were preparing to take a break before the next one, Zhang Zhong made his move. He had already found Xiao Xixi before entering the OR, checked the schedule, and learned that Wu Ting had three more surgeries today. He shamelessly said:
"Director Qin, you’ve been operating for a long time. You must be tired. How about this: I’ll assist Dr. Wu on the next one."
Zhang Zhong stated his intentions directly.
’Just as I thought, the old fox!’
There was no way Qin Donglai was going to let Zhang Zhong get his way. The role of Wu Ting’s designated assistant had to be his.
"It’s no problem, Director Zhang. I’m just getting warmed up. You just keep observing from the side."
Qin Donglai stood his ground, defending his position as assistant.
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