When the Doctor Uses A Hack

9:12 PM.

Through the window, one could see the bustling city.

Chen Cang had just returned to the doctors’ office with Ge Huai and Meng Xi from the operating room; they had been at it since past six in the evening. Ge Huai had assisted Meng Xi with two operations, or more precisely, Ge Huai had helped Meng Xi perform two surgeries. As for Chen Cang… Chen Cang couldn’t even be considered an assistant, at best, he was a pair of helping eyes.

Chen Cang realized that the more he was involved in a surgery, the more likely he was to “learn” the skills of the chief surgeon.

It’s not called stealing; it’s called learning.

A five percent chance might seem high, but Chen Cang had pondered for a long time and concluded that this percentage could change.

If you were highly involved and committed wholeheartedly to the surgery, putting in a lot of effort, then you had a great chance of acquiring the surgery skills, just like the time with the phalangeal fracture operation.

But this kind of eye assistance was really annoying, and the chances of gaining any skill were way too low.

The truth is Chen Cang did want to get hands-on; he very much wanted to…

But the root of the problem was mainly the distrust from Meng Xi and Ge Huai.

After all, as a student who had just arrived a few days ago, it wasn’t very likely you would get to perform surgery right away; everything needs a gradual process.

This made Chen Cang feel rather helpless, for if he didn’t get hands-on, he had no way to learn the surgery; simply watching… you couldn’t learn a damn thing.

Surgeries, surgeries! Without hands-on experience, how can one learn the techniques!

And he couldn’t improve his favorability!

His favorability was stuck at 20 and couldn’t be raised.

Chen Cang felt lost; with such skills relying entirely on favorability, what could he do with a mere 20 points in favorability?

In a specialized department like cardiothoracic surgery, starting with level two surgeries, most were already level three surgeries. Level one surgeries… that was just absurd!

Chen Cang felt increasingly like he was being deceived by life.

…

…

The three sat in the doctors’ office, Ge Huai excitedly discussed the recent surgery with Meng Xi, who listened, rarely spoke, occasionally nodding or providing a brief comment.

And… Chen Cang’s participation was minimal, his presence barely noticed…

The so-called “if you don’t know, don’t BS,” and Chen Cang perfectly embodied this principle.

Seeing that the operations were done and it was getting late, Chen Cang estimated it was time to leave.

Just as Chen Cang was about to leave, the phone in the doctors’ office rang. Before Ge Huai could answer, the calling had stopped; the nurse station must have picked it up already.

The doctors’ office phone was connected to the nurses’ station.

A minute later, a nurse walked in, glanced around the office, spotted Meng Xi and others, and curiously asked, “Director Meng, who’s on call today?”

Meng Xi shook his head looking at Ge Huai, “Dr. Ge, who’s on duty today?”

Ge Huai hastily walked over to the duty roster and checked, “Today is Dr. Yao’s turn; maybe he went to change some dressings.”

Meng Xi shook his head, “No need.”

After that, Meng Xi looked at the nurse, “What’s the matter, Xiao Li?”

Nurse Xiao Li said, “An emergency patient was just brought in, experiencing chest pain, suspected to be a heart issue. They asked for our department’s doctor to consult.”

Meng Xi stood up and headed outside, “I’ll go.”

Chen Cang nodded and quickly followed Meng Xi outside.

Ge Huai also followed Chen Cang downstairs.

At the emergency department, when the nurse saw Meng Xi, she quickly said, “Director Meng, you’re here, the patient is now in the resuscitation room.”

Meng Xi nodded and walked inside.

When the on-duty doctor saw Meng Xi arrive, his eyes lit up. This female doctor with a Ph.D. was now a rising star at the First Hospital of Dong University.

Not to mention the halo of her world-renowned university background.

Since her arrival at the hospital, Meng Xi’s decisive action, rigorous work ethic, precise diagnoses, and surgery skills that could be called masterful had already won over the majority.

She wasn’t only talented but also beautiful, and yet she worked so hard and was highly capable.

How could such a person not be popular?

The doctor in the emergency department, Wu Peng, directly said, “Director Meng, you haven’t finished your shift yet!”

Meng Xi did not respond to this small talk but got straight to the point, “What’s the patient’s condition?”

Wu Peng was taken aback and quickly responded, “The patient is male, 51 years old. He suddenly experienced squeezing chest pain in the front area three days ago! The pain was significant behind the sternum, with typical radiating and referential pain to the neck and back, predominantly sharp pain. He didn’t take it seriously until today when the pain worsened… it looks a bit like a myocardial infarction!”

Such symptoms obviously suggested steering the diagnosis toward acute myocardial ischemia, much like angina pectoris or myocardial infarction seen in coronary atherosclerotic heart disease.

Meng Xi walked straight to the patient’s side and examined the cardiac monitor before approaching the man, seeing that he was conscious.

“Has an electrocardiogram (ECG) been done?”

Wu Peng hurriedly handed over the ECG, “Here it is, it doesn’t look like a myocardial infarction.”

“Before coming here, the patient had taken oral nitroglycerin, but the effect was mediocre. The chest pain hasn’t subsided.”

Wu Peng wasn’t specialized in cardiology, he could recognize and distinguish some emergent ECG patterns, but he couldn’t accurately discern special abnormal ECGs, or even more common ones.

Meng Xi took the ECG, slightly frowned, nothing was typical yet… but something was wrong!

Meng Xi suddenly noticed a detail, the deviation of the P-R segment.

This was a critical distinction from myocardial infarction and early repolarization syndrome!

Could it be… acute myocarditis?

Upon a careful look, there were no abnormal Q waves; the ratio between ST and T was roughly one-quarter.

Onset of symptoms several days ago…

All clues were pointing to one answer!

It could be acute pericarditis.

Thinking this, Meng Xi took off her stethoscope from her neck, put it on, and listened to the patient’s precordial area.

Pericardial friction rub…

Indeed, there it was!

With the rises and falls of respiration and the constant heartbeat, Meng Xi heard the slow sound of pericardial friction.

It was most likely pericarditis.

Considering this, Meng Xi looked at Wu Peng, “I suspect pericarditis right now, but we can’t rule out myocardial infarction. Has the patient had his cardiac enzymes checked?”

On hearing myocarditis, Wu Peng immediately reacted, “Cardiac enzymes were checked as soon as he arrived at the hospital, nothing wrong.”

At that moment, the patient suddenly said, “Doctor, I feel some tightness in my chest, and it’s a bit difficult to breathe out.”

Meng Xi slightly frowned, “Bring a bedside ultrasound, let’s see if there’s any effusion.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Peng nodded quickly and hurried to arrange the consultation.

At this time, Meng Xi suddenly turned and stared intently at Chen Cang, “Didn’t you spend time in the emergency department? Can you identify acute myocarditis?”

Chen Cang was taken aback: Who is she looking down on?

[Ding! Triggered Meng Xi’s challenge, first round, analyze the condition!]