21st Century Necromancer

Chapter 130 Cervical Spine Fracture (Seeking Recommendations, Seeking Collections)

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Although there had been some awkwardness, Tokairin Yuko still reappeared in front of Chen Yu after washing her face. She cleaned up the leftover bottles and cups in the laboratory before she left with Misumi Mikoto and the Nakado Department, taking their test results with them.

As the trio left, the lab researchers also gradually arrived to begin their work for the day. However, seeing Chen Yu, who had arrived before them, the researchers couldn't help but feel a sense of tension and unease, fearing they might have angered Chen Yu by coming in late.

But Chen Yu did not mind and signaled one of the researchers to escort Misumi Mikoto and her group out of the hospital. After checking on the progress of the experiment, Chen Yu returned to his office.

The workload of an associate professor could be seen as both heavy and light—it mainly depended on whether Chen Yu felt like working or not.

Chen Yu's daily tasks mainly involved academic research and patient diagnosis and treatment. Having just visited the lab in the morning, the academic research portion was essentially complete, and as for patient diagnosis and treatment...

Thanks to the tiered medical system in Japan, the cases that were referred to the University Hospital were usually not emergency patients. As long as the consultation and treatment times were scheduled, the treatment plans determined, and the necessary treatments or surgeries performed, there were typically no urgent matters needing immediate attention.

Unless it was an emergency case, but such situations might not arise even once a month. Therefore, Chen Yu could consider himself to have some leisure time amidst a busy day and relax a bit.

It seemed, however, as if to deliberately oppose Chen Yu's plans, just when he was thinking he could finish work early today and make up for not spending time with Jounouchi Hiromi yesterday, a phone call came in.

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Rushing to the emergency room, Chen Yu, seeing the patient being resuscitated, quickly asked a nearby nurse, "What happened? How is the patient's condition now?"

"Cervical spine fracture, eyes damaged by chemical gases!" On seeing Chen Yu's arrival, the nurse hurriedly reported the patient's condition to him: "The patient's eyeglasses were corroded by a corrosive gas during a chemical experiment, resulting in damage to both eyes. While trying to find an eye wash station, the patient fell and hit a wall, causing a cervical spine fracture.

The patient had stopped breathing before being brought in and is in critical condition, now undergoing resuscitation!"

"Cervical spine fracture?" Hearing the nurse's report, Chen Yu couldn't help but feel the situation was difficult.

A cervical spine fracture was not something easy to deal with; in fact, the fact that this patient was alive and had made it to the hospital was already extraordinary luck.

The cervical spine, as we commonly refer to it, is located in the neck segment of the spinal column, surrounding the cervical cord and its membranes. It is connected by intervertebral discs and ligaments. Important spinal nerves, vertebral arteries, and vertebral veins all pass through here, and the upper respiratory tract and esophagus are also located in this region.

Once the cervical spine is injured, it will immediately affect a person's breathing and the brain's control over the body. In severe cases, it can even cause instant death.

In movies or TV shows, we often see someone being knocked unconscious with a blow to the back of the neck, which works by affecting the nerve conduction in the neck, causing fainting. But that's in fiction. In reality, if someone were to do this, there's a high likelihood of causing paralysis or even death due to damage to the spinal cord and nerves in the neck.

Chen Yu did not rashly interrupt the doctors who were resuscitating the patient but first looked at the CT scans nearby.

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The image clearly shows that the third and fourth cervical vertebrae of the injured party are significantly displaced and fractured, and it is evident that the spinal cord has been damaged. This could very well cause paralysis of the lower body, or even the entire body, and more likely, threaten the patient's life.

"Prepare the operating room for emergency surgery," Chen Yu instructed without hesitation after reviewing the CT scans. "Also, summon Doctor Jounouchi. I need her as the anesthesiologist for the surgery. And tell her to inform Dr. Daimon that I need a surgical assistant."

"Professor, Dr. Daimon is…?" The nurse recalled for a moment and didn't seem to remember any doctors by the name of Daimon in the hospital.

Chen Yu responded, "Just tell Doctor Jounouchi; she'll know who to notify." Having said that, he walked over to the bedside where doctors were administering emergency treatment to the patient.

Hearing Chen Yu's instructions, the nurse didn't feel it was appropriate to ask further and quickly ran out to prepare the operating room and to inform Jounouchi Hiromi.

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By the time the patient was brought into the operating room, Jounouchi Hiromi, who had been notified by Chen Yu, was already seated at the anesthesiologist's station, administering anesthesia to the patient. Daimon Michiko had also changed into surgical attire and was standing by as the assistant.

"To think, getting Jounouchi to call me in to assist, Doctor Chen, you've got quite the ideas!" Daimon Michiko remarked with a teasing tone, but her attitude towards the surgery was extremely serious. She asked directly, "The patient has a cervical fracture and dislocation. What's your plan?"

"Remove the compressing material inside the vertebral canal and restore the alignment of the canal. The patient's condition isn't particularly severe, doesn't require posterior cervical fixation, hence, I'm planning on an anterior approach surgery. Dr. Daimon, do you have any other thoughts?" Chen Yu looked towards Daimon Michiko, seeking her opinion.

After hearing Chen Yu's surgical plan, Daimon Michiko nodded, "I have no objections. But what about the damaged nerves? With the cervical fracture and dislocation, the spinal cord must have been harmed, right?"

"That's also why I asked you to come, for you to handle the reestablishment of the damaged nerves, to restore as much of the patient's bodily functions as possible, avoiding severe paralysis." Chen Yu wasn't sure to what extent Daimon Michiko was capable, considering it was a cervical fracture with spinal damage, where paralysis was almost inevitable.

At the mention of this task, Daimon Michiko's eyebrows lifted, "Interesting, let's begin the surgery, then! Anesthesiologist, how's the patient?"

"Blood pressure 105/70, heart rate 62, sinus rhythm," Jounouchi Hiromi reported the patient's vital signs and didn't forget to retort to Daimon Michiko, "Less talk if you're not the lead surgeon. Just do your job as an assistant!"

Having been retorted by Jounouchi Hiromi, Daimon Michiko let out a "Hah" in surprise, preparing to say something in response, but at that moment, Chen Yu had already announced the start of the surgery.

"Scalpel." He extended his hand to the nurse by his side, and soon, a scalpel was placed into Chen Yu's hand: "First assistant, open up the operative field."

Hearing Chen Yu's command, Daimon Michiko abandoned the desire to continue sparring with Jounouchi Hiromi. She assisted Chen Yu as instructed, opening up the operative field to commence the surgery.