Chapter 422 - 269: Zhengchu Wang

Chapter 422: Chapter 269: Zhengchu Wang

Jiang He’s hands never stopped moving. "Okay, I know. By the way, Old Liang, let me quiz you. If we were to force the dissection here, what are we most likely to hit?"

Liang Shaojun: "!!!"

’My worst fears are coming true.’

’Who can even relate to this?’

’Why am I still getting pop-quizzed so many years after graduation?’

’My head is so itchy, I feel like I’m about to grow a new brain!’

He broke out in a sweat as he said, "Uh, uh, uh, uh... You’re likely to hit the confluence of the middle colic vein or the inferior mesenteric vein?"

"Half right."

Jiang He’s hands didn’t stop.

The ultrasonic scalpel weaved precisely through the hematoma.

He lifted.

And clamped.

"This is a typical inflammatory adhesion band. According to a normal anatomical atlas, the area below should be safe, but the tumor is pushing everything aside, causing the blood vessels to deviate from their usual path."

Jiang He suddenly stopped in an avascular area that appeared to be nothing but fat.

"Meng Shiyu, get the clips ready."

Meng Shiyu froze. Before he could even see what Jiang He intended to clip, he saw Jiang He gently nudge something aside with the blunt side of the ultrasonic scalpel.

The muddy, blood-filled tissue was pushed away.

A bulging, variant blood vessel appeared, right in the center of their view!

If Jiang He had just cut straight through a moment ago, that vessel would have undoubtedly been severed.

Meng Shiyu quickly inserted the clip applier and, with a CLICK, occluded the vessel.

In the observation room.

Wang Zhengchu couldn’t understand!

He couldn’t help but speak up:

"How did he know there was a variant vessel there? The area was completely covered by the hematoma, with no visible bulge to indicate anything. On what grounds did he tell his assistant to prepare the clips in advance?"

Yang Xu’s lips curved into a slight smile. He played the part of a grandmaster, saying nothing, as if everything was under his control.

In reality, the teacher was utterly shocked himself.

’How on earth did my student do that? Does he have X-ray vision or something? No, no, I have to ask him about this after the surgery. This technique... I have to learn it too!’

For Jiang He, it was all very simple.

This was a new anatomical concept deduced in a later era:

The Fascial Tension-Based Vessel-Locating Method.

Although the hematoma obscured his vision, the tumor’s expansion altered the tractional tension of the surrounding tissues.

Jiang He didn’t need to see where the vessel was at all.

He only needed to look at the stress patterns on the surface of the omental fat to reverse-engineer the position of the compressed variant vessel underneath.

Twenty years from now, this would be a required course for all top-tier surgeons.

But in 2008, it was indeed magic.

Back at the operating table, Jiang He continued the procedure.

Opening the retroperitoneum.

In less than ten minutes.

The tumor on the body and tail of the pancreas was completely exposed.

A solid mass, over five centimeters in diameter, with a hyperemic surface and a ruptured capsule from which old blood was still seeping.

The real test was only just beginning.

It was also what Wang Zhengchu considered the greatest challenge:

Dissection of the splenic vein.

In a spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy, the pancreas must be separated from the splenic artery and vein, which are tightly adhered to its dorsal side.

The splenic artery was one thing; its wall was thick and elastic.

But the splenic vein was thin and carried high pressure. The slightest mistake would cause massive bleeding.

Everyone held their breath, waiting to see how Jiang He would proceed.

Jiang He said, "Hold it steady. Don’t shake."

The moment he gave this reminder, the two assistants at the table focused with every fiber of their being.

They both knew that Jiang He wouldn’t bother speaking up unless it was a critical step.

Next.

Jiang He extended the ultrasonic scalpel toward the dorsal side of the tumor.

"What is he doing?"

In the observation room, Wang Zhengchu lurched forward. "Is he going in directly? Isn’t he worried about thermal spread?"

The other doctors also grew tense, terrified of a mistake.

However, the operating room and the observation room were two completely different worlds.

Jiang He remained unhurried.

The ultrasonic scalpel.

Advancing with the blunt side.

You could compare it to getting a haircut. It looked like Jiang He was using scissors, but he was actually advancing with their blunt edge...

This required a top-tier feel for the tissue and an impeccable anatomical awareness.

Wang Zhengchu muttered to himself, "He’s getting way too close..."

He saw the tip of Jiang He’s scalpel graze past the vein wall every single time.

But it never tore.

Not only did it not tear, there wasn’t even any oozing.

A bloodless plane was quickly created through the dense adhesive tissue.

Jiang He even had the spare capacity to teach. "Meng Shiyu, pay attention. The splenic vein has many small tributary branches near the body and tail of the pancreas. You can’t just bluntly tear them here. You see one, you clip one."

The moment he finished speaking.

The ultrasonic scalpel gave a gentle flick, and a small venous branch was exposed.

"Clip it."

Meng Shiyu was drenched in sweat.

He felt like his own CPU was about to fry.

He prided himself on being one of the best among his peers, with first-class hand speed and reflexes.

But in front of Jiang He, he felt like an intern on his first day of clinical rotations... No, he was probably even worse than an intern.

Fortunately, Jiang He was skilled enough.

He would directly lift out the vessel and shove it right in front of Meng Shiyu’s clip applier.

All Meng Shiyu had to do was operate the instrument.

In just ten short minutes.

The splenic vein dissection, a process Wang Zhengchu estimated would take at least an hour, was already complete.

Everyone in the observation room had fallen silent.

’What kind of technique is that? Who taught him?’

At this thought, everyone turned to look at Yang Xu again.

For the first time... they actually began to doubt Dean Yang’s skill level...

’Did Dean Yang really teach Jiang He? Is Dean Yang that skilled?’

’No way...’

Looking back at the operating room, the entire splenic vein had been dissected free.

The suction tube was completely clean.

It was a zero-bleed procedure.

Zero bleeding in such a hostile abdominal environment.

The feeling was like guessing on every multiple-choice question on an English exam... and getting every single one wrong.

It felt a little too unreal.

Wang Zhengchu had performed open surgeries for many years, and he was confident his understanding of human anatomy was among the best in the country.

But today, his hard-won experience, his pride and joy, was being viciously ground into the dust by Jiang He.