Old Chief Physician Pan's words shocked everyone.
The agent and Secretary-General Chen's eyes shone brightly at his words. They had heard about this surgical technique on their way here, but the chief surgeon from the general surgery department, who was in charge of treating the patient, had not mentioned the woundless method at all. Before they could ask about it, this elderly man who appeared dignified and trustworthy had unexpectedly and directly announced it.
Old Chief Physician Pan looked like a righteous man especially with his square face, thick eyebrows and clear eyes. He might lose out to a young, handsome boy in a contest of attractiveness, but if it were in terms of the sense of security he gave off, he outdid everyone in the room including the hospital directors.
The awe-inspiring aura of those who had gone to war boosted Old Chief Physician Pan's trustworthiness.
"This elderly man is…" asked the surprised agent carefully.
"Instructor Pan has a very impressive background. He is a war veteran with a Class II Merit Citation. After returning from his military service, he became a chief physician in charge of a ward specifically for senior officials in the military hospital.
"After his retirement, he was re-employed to Sea City General Hospital and became a chief physician in the emergency department. He is now working on the development of the emergency department into Sea City Emergency Center," Secretary General Chen explained, being familiar with Old Chief Physician Pan and crossing his professional boundaries to introduce the man. Considering his remarks inadequate, he added, "Instructor Pan is a demon."
"Sea City General Hospital has never performed an appendectomy using an endoscope!" Chief Surgeon Liu stood up abruptly and began to feud.
He was aware that Zheng Ren was likely able to perform this surgery. In all honesty, he regretted his obsession with regaining his reputation by disputing with a junior chief resident. In the end, he had no way out of this embarrassing mess. Why did he even torture himself in the first place?
Chief Surgeon Liu's instinct was to prevent Zheng Ren from performing this surgery at all costs. Otherwise, he would lose the initiative and the consequences would be disastrous.
"You haven't done it, but it doesn't mean that the others haven't done it too." Old Chief Physician Pan could not back off as well. Since he had decided to give Zheng Ren his full support, nothing could be held back and there would be no retreat from this situation.
Trust—a basic lesson learned in the army.
"I can guarantee that Zheng Ren will finish this surgery successfully," Old Chief Physician Pan stood up and declared without giving Chief Surgeon Liu a chance to respond. "I've my own judgment as a senior military doctor. If the surgery ends up in failure, I'm prepared to accept the punishment as well."
Old Chief Physician Pan gave Chief Surgeon Liu a cold sneer during his speech.
"My soldier—Zheng Ren—is the best surgeon for appendectomy in Sea City General Hospital. Best in this city! Best in this province!" yelled Old Chief Physician Pan.
Oh, Old Chief Physician Pan actually valued this surgeon that much?
Curiosity gnawed at the hospital director, Secretary-General Chen and the agent, none of whom had heard of Zheng Ren before this. However, the expression of Fu Guangshi, deputy director in charge of clinical works, fell immediately upon hearing the name.
"Zheng Ren performed forty-nine appendectomies—various difficult surgical cases included—within sixteen hours yesterday. In addition, all of them were done perfectly without a single flaw at all." Old Chief Physician Pan paused momentarily before continuing. "Let Zheng Ren perform the surgery. We have a contingency plan even if the endoscopic appendectomy fails. This is the best solution we have right now."
Old Chief Physician Pan took in his surroundings with a high and mighty aura, just like a king of beasts.
"I'm done talking. Who agrees and who doesn't?"
Silence reigned in the room.
A few seconds later, Chief Surgeon Liu said, "I—"
"You're not qualified!" Old Chief Physician Pan interrupted Liu Tianxing immediately. "Your appendectomy skill isn't better than Zheng Ren, so shut up!"
Chief Surgeon Liu was enraged instantly. 'What do you mean by my skills aren't better than Zheng Ren? I'm a chief surgeon who has performed over a thousand appendectomies in my entire life. Are you humiliating me?' he thought.
"You're not convinced?" Old Chief Physician Pan looked askew at him disdainfully. "What about the forty-nine surgical video recordings, did you forget them?"
Even though the hospital director and everyone else had no idea what forty-nine surgical video recordings Old Pan was referring to, they noticed Chief Surgeon Liu, who claimed to be Sea City Supreme Scalpel, cowered instantly as he sat down red-faced and nearly buried his face under the table.
"It is settled. Doctor Zheng Ren will perform the appendectomy, is that okay?" Waving his hand and making the decision, Director Xiao turned around and asked for the agent's opinion.
The medical field was alien to the agent, but she knew how to read people. Even though the surgeon had been relegated to one corner of the room and she had no idea how good he was, Old Chief Physician Pan's retaliation against Chief Surgeon Liu had boosted her confidence.
The decision had been made. The most difficult step had been solved.
However, the agent refused to have the surgery broadcasted and even requested an arrangement of female surgical assistants to help Zheng Ren, who would be the only man in the surgery later. There was nothing that could be done about his gender, though.
The director of the hospital, the agent, and Old Chief Physician Pan would stay in the conference room and wait for the surgery to end. After assigning a highly-skilled anesthesiologist to assist with the surgery, the chief anesthesiologist returned to the room and joined the crowd as well.
After preoperative preparations were finished, Chief Surgeon Shi from the endoscopy unit was also pushed out of the operating theater by the patient's assistant, who had changed into a sterile surgical gown.
This was the most dramatic patient Zheng Ren had seen in his entire life, but her actions would not induce any antipathy in him.
There were only three people left in the operating theater—a female anesthesiologist, a female assistant, and Zheng Ren.
The assistant, who was wearing a sterile surgical cap and mask, bowed to Zheng Ren and apologized. "Doctor Zheng, I apologize."
"Huh?"
"Miss Zhou Jinxi is going to become a celebrity in the future, so we'd like to avoid gossip as much as possible. I hope you don't mind," explained the female assistant.
Now only did Zheng Ren realize the model's name was Zhou Jinxi, but her dream of being a celebrity in the future was none of his concern. Zheng Ren did not idolize any celebrity and this surgery's success was the only thing he cared about at this moment.
The surgical scrub was performed, the surgical site disinfected, the surgical drapes applied, and the surgery officially begun.
Zheng Ren placed the surgical drape on the operating table and inserted the colonoscope into the patient's natural orifice. When Zhou Jinxi's fair-skinned, collagen-filled thighs that were brimming with youthful vitality and The-Part-That-Must-Not-Be-Named were no longer visible through the scope, only then was the surgery broadcast live in Xinglin Garden.
The System was intelligent enough to avoid any situation that may cause trouble.
404 was indeed a powerful and ferocious God-Beast.
[The demon is live-streaming again? Doesn't he need rest?]
[Eh? This anatomical structure is wrong. Is he performing a laparoscopic appendectomy? Why does it look like a colonoscope? Let me read the case again.]
[F*ck! Using a colonoscope to perform an appendectomy? The demon is going to heaven!]
Ten seconds after the live broadcast started in Xinglin Garden, every viewer who had read the case clearly started bombarding the screen with comments.
Most doctors within the country had no idea what an ESD procedure was.
Even if a few doctors had some knowledge about it, they had never seen it before.
Even if they had seen it before, they had not done it personally.
Even if they had done it personally, they had not attempted it in an appendectomy.
There were only a handful of surgeons who had performed an appendectomy through ESD in this country.
The viewers started informing their friends and colleagues and asked them to quickly log into Xinglin Garden to watch the godlike surgery—the endoscopic transrectal appendectomy.
Xinglin Garden was merely a niche website for professionals without a large investment toward its development.
The live broadcast room was full in less than a minute after the livestream started as the technicians of Xinglin Garden had never expected one thousand viewers to watch a live broadcast at the same time.
[Is the surgeon wishing for a trip to heaven? How are you supposed to perform this surgery? Can anyone share a video of this surgical technique with me?]
[Don't bother with it. I've searched for it just now but there isn't any result at all. Barely anyone I know has knowledge about the ESD procedure.]
[Popular science, I'll explain it briefly. In 1994, a Japanese scholar invented the IT knife for the purpose of submucosal dissection, but it could only be used in the esophagus and gastrointestinal tract. In 1999, a Japanese expert performed an ESD procedure to remove gastrointestinal tumors that hadn't reached the muscle layer. In 2010, the endoscopy unit at Harbin Medical University Affiliated Second Hospital tried to perform an appendectomy with an ESD procedure, but so far, this surgical technique hasn't been introduced for large-scale usage in this country.]
[How are you supposed to do it then?]
[Just keep quiet and watch the video. He is indeed a demon. Not only can he perform surgery beautifully, he is even one of the top surgeons who can use a new surgical technique skillfully as well. God, please accept my worship.]
In the operating theater, the colonoscope had passed through the rectum and was currently sliding deeper into the colon in search of the inflamed appendix.