"Life is full of unexpected meetings, Dr. Zhou, it seems we are really fated to cross paths. Perfect timing, give me a hand, will you?"
Dr. Guan was blunt and uncomplicated.
He simply called him over to help.
The other doctors, including three nurses, all looked somewhat astonished at Zhou Can.
Anesthesiologists usually come off as rather aloof.
Especially anesthesiologists of Dr. Guan's standing, who typically only speak a few sentences to the chief surgeon when necessary during an operation. As for the other medical staff, they are barely regarded, no different from air.
It's not that anesthesiologists are lowly ranked, but that's relatively speaking.
For instance, at the Chief Level, someone is the head physician of a major department, while anesthesiology is considered a sub-discipline, which lacks the same clout visibly.
Standing together, certainly the head physician of the major department holds a higher status.
This doesn't mean that anesthesiologists are unimportant.
At Dr. Guan's level, one is already an important technical personnel to the hospital.
"What illness does this patient have?"
Zhou Can saw that the patient was still conscious, and the life monitoring probe was barely set up.
Without full anesthesia, one must be especially careful when speaking.
Otherwise, causing patient-doctor conflicts, or creating misunderstandings, would be quite undesired.
"Adhesive intestinal obstruction, it requires a partial bowel resection."
Before surgery, an anesthesiologist needs to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the patient's condition and the surgical plan provided by the chief surgeon.
Therefore, they are quite clear about the patient's illness.
"Partial bowel resection, huh! That's a Level 4 major surgery!"
Upon hearing it was a major surgery, Zhou Can instantly felt energized.
Level 1 surgeries, he had done to the point of boredom in the Emergency Department.
The difficulty of Level 2 surgeries was higher, but with his current ability, he somewhat looked down upon them.
He was now aiming for Level 3 and Level 4 major surgeries.
To preside over the whole operation was wishful thinking.
So long as he could handle the important parts of the surgery, he would be more than satisfied.
"Are we doing an open surgery or laparoscopy?"
If it was laparoscopic surgery, he would have a better chance of participating in the crucial part.
"Traditional open surgery! Director Jia doesn't seem to do much endoscopic surgery."
Dr. Guan hinted at something in his words.
Essentially telling Zhou Can that Director Jia's talent for endoscopic surgery was relatively lacking, thus he performed more traditional surgeries.
The difficulty of operating an endoscopic surgery is higher than that of traditional surgery.
That's because it's carried out using manipulative instruments.
To some extent, robotic surgery is designed to compensate for this shortfall.
Surgeons with shaky hands, imprecision in positioning, cutting, and suturing are all too common. With robots, controlling the robotic arms via remote, these issues can be well mitigated.
Additionally, robots offer a broader view and can magnify the operation site by more than ten times, providing better clarity.
Then, with their flexible movement, many big hospitals have started to introduce robotic surgical systems.
Zhou Can assisted with intubation, putting the patient on the ventilator, and so on.
All the while, he observed the patient's condition.
Patients with intestinal obstruction often suffer from vomiting, gastrointestinal decompression, inability to eat, leading to internal homeostatic imbalance. This must be corrected before surgery to determine the optimal surgical timing.
Patients with chronic intestinal obstruction might suffer from malnutrition.
This patient's sallow skin and emaciated body could be compared to an African refugee's.
Suggesting it could very well be chronic intestinal obstruction.
"How are his liver and kidney functions?"
"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while, but your medical knowledge has greatly improved. Rest assured, we've already tested his liver and kidney functions pre-operatively and did some treatments to ensure he can withstand the surgery."
Dr. Guan was impressed by his question.
Zhou Can had merely inquired about the patient's surgical plan and could deduce that the patient suffered from chronic intestinal obstruction.
Moreover, understanding the need to consider liver and kidney functions pre-operatively indicates Zhou Can's medical knowledge has greatly advanced from before.
Such a tremendous progression could only be most apparent to Dr. Guan.
A patient with chronic intestinal obstruction, due to disturbances in water, electrolytes, acid-base balance, and malnutrition, must have their liver and kidney functions monitored and treated before surgery. This is to prevent worsening damage to these organs from the operation.
Without considerable experience, it's challenging to delve so deeply.