Chapter 456: Chapter 391: Believe It or Not, I Did It Anyway
"Minimally invasive surgery?"
In the consultation room, the head of the Emergency Department, Mike Feist, let out a gasp.
The other doctors present also looked astonished.
Beside him, the head of Orthopedics, Josh O’Connor, asked hurriedly, "Chen, are you saying you want to perform minimally invasive surgery on Jay’s knee to repair the ligament?"
As a leading authority in orthopedics, Chen Yu had been covered by the media quite a bit.
So, Josh O’Connor knew that Chen Yu was fond of using minimally invasive techniques. There was nothing wrong with that in itself; minimally invasive surgery was clearly superior to open surgery in every way. Given the choice, he would opt for it too. The procedure was faster, and the trauma to the patient was minimal.
But the difficulty was immense!
The surgical field of view was already unclear and the space for manipulation was limited, let alone for a minimally invasive approach.
"No." Chen Yu shook his head. "Not just the knee. I’m going to perform minimally invasive surgery on the pelvis as well."
Josh O’Connor fell silent at once.
The other doctors present all fell silent.
They hadn’t misheard. Chen Yu had, in fact, just said he planned to perform a minimally invasive reduction and fixation on the pelvis.
They simply couldn’t believe it.
Laparoscopic surgeries were common enough, but as far as Josh O’Connor could recall, a minimally invasive pelvic surgery had never been performed.
First of all, pelvic surgery was one of the most difficult procedures in orthopedics.
The pelvis envelops numerous organs and is surrounded by a dense network of blood vessels and nerves. Most importantly, it lies deep within the body, encased in thick layers of fascia and muscle.
Therefore, a large incision—typically 10 to 30 centimeters—was required to peel back the tissues layer by layer and expose the pelvis.
The trauma to the body from an incision of this magnitude was immense.
Even with an open procedure, it was difficult to guarantee that blood vessels and nerves wouldn’t be damaged during the operation.
One slip could lead to a major hemorrhage. Another, and even if the surgery appeared perfect, the patient could end up with nerve damage, resulting in lower body paralysis.
And that was just the first step of the procedure.
Once the pelvis was exposed, they still faced the problem of precise reduction.
The pelvis acts like a balance, maintaining equilibrium between the legs and the torso. Achieving a precise reduction and identifying the proper bone corridors within a limited field of view required vast experience.
An imprecise reduction could easily lead to limb shortening, pelvic malrotation, and a host of other unpredictable complications.
For an ordinary person, that would be one thing, but for a professional athlete like Jay, the impact would be devastating.
"Chen, have you ever performed a similar surgery?" Josh O’Connor finally asked after a long pause.
It wasn’t that he distrusted Chen Yu’s authority; it was that, based on his own knowledge, it simply couldn’t be done.
The equipment simply wasn’t advanced enough.
Of course, as the best hospital in Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital possessed the world’s most advanced C-arm machines, endoscopes, and other equipment. But no matter how advanced it was, the current technology couldn’t provide a clear enough view of the intricate network of blood vessels and nerves. It certainly couldn’t be used to find a precise access route and complete a series of complex maneuvers like reduction and fixation.
It gave him a headache just thinking about it; he was convinced it was impossible.
"Alright, I’m the lead surgeon, so you’ll follow my instructions. Josh, you’ll be my first assistant. Mike, I’ll need you to be my second assistant," Chen Yu announced, making the final call.
Quite some time had passed since the car accident.
Jay’s pelvis was hemorrhaging, the blood loss was increasing, and his surgical window was closing fast.
The two men exchanged a look and could only nod.
Chen Yu was the authority. They had no choice but to trust him.
However, while scrubbing in, Josh O’Connor couldn’t help but ask again.
Chen Yu glanced at the operating room being prepped and offered him some reassurance. "Don’t worry. I’ve performed more than a dozen similar minimally invasive pelvic fracture reductions."
He wouldn’t have accepted the job if he didn’t have the skills to pull it off.
"More than a dozen? Then how come I haven’t seen any related medical papers?" Josh O’Connor asked quickly.
With this kind of groundbreaking work, it would be published in The Lancet at a minimum.
Chen Yu just smiled and didn’t reply.
’With my authority in orthopedics, there’s no need to chase more prestige,’ he thought.
Most importantly, no one could replicate his surgical methods.
To replicate them, one would first need an Eye of All-Seeing.
So what would be the point of publishing a paper? It would only lead others to harm their patients.
Upon entering the operating room, they found Jay Williams had already been anesthetized.
"Chen, where do we start?" Josh O’Connor asked from across the operating table.
Time was tight. Barely more than an hour had passed since Chen Yu arrived at the hospital.
Chen Yu hadn’t discussed the specific surgical procedure with them.
But without a doubt, this was going to be a long and highly complex surgery.
From the pelvis to the knee, tibia, and talus—everything needed to be repaired.
Under these circumstances, all they could do was assist him to the best of their abilities.
"Stop the bleeding first."
The most pressing issue was hemostasis.
Instead of using any instruments, Chen Yu began working by feel.
Even with instruments, explaining his process would be a hassle.
’So, either don’t ask, or if you do, the answer is simply that I can do it.’
’As for how it’s done, you first need to be an authority on my level to understand.’
With the Eye of All-Seeing, the bleeding vessel was clearly visible.
He inserted the endoscope, an electrocautery knife following close behind, and dissected the tissue layer by layer, precisely pinpointing the ruptured vessel.
Standing at Chen Yu’s right hand, Mike Feist was stunned into silence.
He had no idea how Chen Yu had located the bleeding point.
’From the earlier scans?’
The scans could only show so much, pointing to a general location. You could only learn the specifics by actually making an incision.
But Chen Yu hadn’t seemed to search at all; he’d pinpointed the source of the bleeding directly.
While he was still reeling in shock, Chen Yu had already completed the suction and used the electrocautery knife to achieve hemostasis.
A glance at the blood pressure monitor showed a subtle change for the better.
The bleeding was stopped, just like that!
"Josh, assist me. I’m going to perform the reduction," Chen Yu called out.
Josh O’Connor acknowledged with a grunt and immediately gestured for the C-arm X-ray machine to be brought over.
He also readied the external fixation frame, Kirschner wires, and other surgical instruments.
Since Chen Yu had chosen a minimally invasive approach, external fixation was the only logical method for the reduction.
"Not necessary."
Chen Yu shook his head.
What surprised Josh O’Connor even more was that the "assistance" Chen Yu had spoken of was for him to hold Jay Williams’s left leg, applying traction and rotation.
Kneeling on the operating table and holding a thigh, Josh O’Connor was completely baffled.
’I’ve never done a pelvic reduction like this before!’
’But the real question is, can this even work?’
’We’re working through skin and muscle. Who the hell knows what the bones look like underneath?’
But as Chen Yu inserted the Kirschner wires and applied manual traction, it was as if he had X-ray Vision. Before long, he stopped, finished.
And as this was an orthopedic surgery, an electric drill was naturally indispensable.
Under O’Connor’s bewildered gaze, Chen Yu had already picked up the electric drill and started it with a WHIRRRR.
Everyone in the operating room was stunned.
They simply couldn’t fathom how Chen Yu was selecting the bone corridor entry points without the aid of any imaging equipment, nor how he could guarantee the drill wouldn’t hit any blood vessels or nerves.
The pelvis was packed with a dense web of blood vessels and nerves. The slightest tremor of his hand would mean immediate massive hemorrhage, severed nerves, and lower-body paralysis.
It was safe to say that no one would dare to operate so boldly, even with the aid of imaging equipment.
In a blur of motion, Chen Yu swiftly tightened several internal fixation screws, completing the procedure at an unbelievable speed.
Only then did Chen Yu signal for the C-arm machine.
As the machine scanned the area, Josh O’Connor froze in place once again.
The fractured, displaced ilium and ischium were, impossibly, already in perfect alignment.
Several internal fixation screws were clearly visible. From his professional standpoint, the bone corridors—both in depth and angle—could only be described as perfect.
"Chen, how did you do that?" O’Connor’s voice trembled slightly.
The surgery he had just witnessed had completely shattered nearly thirty years of his orthopedic knowledge.
Chen Yu’s eyes swept over the pelvis one last time to confirm nothing had been missed. "Experience," he said.
O’Connor was on the verge of calling bullshit.
’No amount of experience could make that possible,’ he thought.
"Chen, I don’t believe it. You must have some kind of special method," Mike Feist said, shaking his head frantically.
To use a vivid analogy, what had just happened was like watching a blindfolded man walk into a giant maze.
A maze, moreover, that was filled with bombs and traps.
Yet Chen Yu had navigated it as if he could see the entire map, precisely avoiding every bomb and trap to arrive directly at the exit.
If there wasn’t a secret to it, he’d twist his own head off.
Chen Yu had already shifted his focus and begun the incision on Jay Williams’s knee. Seeing them all still staring at him intently, he thought for a moment and said, "I told you, it’s experience. How should I put it... It’s like as soon as I touch it, I can feel where the bone is fractured, the angle of displacement, the exact position."
"Combine that with the scans, and I can accurately predict the location of the blood vessels and nerves. Hmm, you could call it a kind of spatial perception ability. Or, you know, just dissect enough human bodies."
Chen Yu was just talking nonsense. ’Believe it or not, I’m the one who pulled it off,’ he thought.
Sure enough, the looks on their faces showed they didn’t believe a word of it.
’Dissect more human bodies? As if we haven’t dissected our fair share,’ they thought.
While they were talking, Chen Yu had already skillfully made the incision and completed the suturing and tightening of the anterior cruciate ligament.
The effect was immediately apparent, a testament to the quality of the surgery.
As for the remaining tibial and talar fractures,
Chen Yu could perform such basic orthopedic procedures with his eyes closed.
A little over two hours later, Chen Yu stopped, took a step back, and carefully examined Jay Williams once more.
Especially the pelvis.
It was an incredibly complex area. A poor repair could easily lead to unforeseen consequences.
For instance, post-surgery complications like being unable to urinate or losing erectile function were all possibilities.
"That’s it. Thank you both for your cooperation."
Chen Yu nodded at the two of them.
The surgery had been a great success, with no major complications.
Josh O’Connor silently glanced at the clock, then after a long pause, he suddenly asked, "Chen, could we write a paper on this surgery? Or at least use it as an internal case study?"
Unfortunately, the procedure hadn’t been recorded.
Chen Yu had requested it, and they had no choice but to agree.
But a paper could still be written.
And Chen Yu’s entire surgical procedure had more than enough material worth writing about.
"Sorry, I’m afraid that’s not possible," Chen Yu refused outright.
A flash of disappointment crossed Josh O’Connor’s eyes.
"I understand," he said immediately.
It was perfectly normal for Chen Yu to be unwilling to share the details of a surgery at this level.
Chen Yu waved his hand. "I’m going to go speak with the family."
It wasn’t that he was jealously guarding his secrets. It was truly impossible to share. If they tried to replicate his methods, they would only end up killing their patients.
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