Chapter 756: Tricky

Zeng Yunjun looked grave. “This situation is actually quite tricky. There is a subacute infarction in the right basal ganglia and paraventricular zone, and it’s still in the progressive stage.

“To be honest, Dean Li, if we’re considering the patient’s best interest, we really should advise them to send her directly to a major hospital in the provincial capital, or to a cranial nerve center in the Capital City.

“If it truly comes to the point of needing decompressive craniotomy or thrombectomy, the neurosurgery capabilities of our Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine are honestly not top-tier in the city.”

Zeng Yunjun’s words were pertinent and practical.

The patient’s condition was an acute ischemic stroke, and the right basal ganglia and paraventricular zones were areas densely packed with nerve tracts. In this situation, if caught within the time window, Western medicine’s intravenous thrombolysis or arterial thrombectomy would be the first choice.

If conservative treatment proved ineffective, or if severe cerebral edema caused a sharp spike in intracranial pressure, or even brain herniation, an emergency decompressive craniotomy would be necessary. In terms of craniotomy procedures, the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine indeed lacked sufficient hard capability and foundation.

“I definitely still want to try the traditional Chinese medicine method first,” Li Xu smiled, his tone calm.

Who was Zeng Yunjun?

He was the director of the Emergency Department, a chief physician who was already fifty-four this year. He was an emergency veteran who had worked for thirty years in a position that raced against death every single day. Was there any kind of person his eyes hadn’t seen?

Just from these few simple exchanges, Zeng Yunjun guessed what was on Li Xu’s mind. Judging by Dean Li’s stance, he obviously planned to keep this troublesome patient and personally try his hand at treating her.

Looking at Li Xu, who was nearly thirty years his junior, Zeng Yunjun couldn’t help but smile bitterly to himself. “Truly, a newborn calf is unafraid of tigers,” he thought. “Young people nowadays are just getting bolder and bolder.”

Zeng Yunjun had to admit that although Li Xu’s skills in traditional Chinese internal medicine and acupuncture were incredibly high—unfathomable, even—and he had indeed pulled off several awe-inspiring miracles in the hospital before, this time was different.

This was an acute cerebral infarction! If mishandled, it was a life-threatening, major crisis requiring a craniotomy.

Traditional Chinese medicine certainly had its merits in the rehabilitation phase of a cerebral infarction’s sequelae—such as using acupuncture for hemiplegia and aphasia—but in this life-or-death acute phase, what use would slow-acting herbal decoctions be?

Could they dissolve the blood clots in the vessels?

Could they lower the fatal intracranial pressure?

Zeng Yunjun was a hundred percent unconvinced, even feeling that Li Xu was being overly confident this time. However, Li Xu was currently the vice dean in charge of medical operations. Since the leadership wanted to personally take over, Zeng Yunjun, as a subordinate, naturally couldn’t refute him to his face.

“I’ll see how it goes when the patient arrives,” Zeng Yunjun thought, making up his mind. “Since I’ll be hovering nearby, and the emergency equipment and thrombolytic drugs are all ready, I can help keep an eye on things. If push comes to shove and her condition spirals out of control, the worst that can happen is I risk my old pride to forcefully advise the family to transfer her. We can’t gamble with a patient’s life.”

About half an hour later, accompanied by the piercing wail of an emergency siren, a county hospital ambulance with flashing red and blue lights sped up and parked in the emergency lane outside the emergency hall.

The doors opened, and the accompanying doctor and nurse quickly brought the gurney down. Beside them were the patient’s two sons, their faces etched with anxiety.

The elder son was in his early forties, and the second son was around thirty-five; both were dressed very simply. Hao Ying’s female classmate—the patient’s youngest daughter who was studying far away in another city—clearly hadn’t had time to rush back yet.

“Hello.” Li Xu, Zeng Yunjun, and Song Sisi quickly stepped forward to greet them.

“Dr. Zeng, Dr. Li, hello. Sorry to trouble you,” the two sons rapidly greeted the men in white coats.

It seemed the patient’s youngest daughter had already explained things clearly to them over the phone. They knew that Director Zeng from the Emergency Department had answered the call and arranged the bed, and they also knew that a doctor surnamed Li would look after them.

Although Li Xu looked very young, the patient’s family was just an ordinary working-class household. In the middle of the night, when even finding a hospital bed was difficult, having doctors from a major hospital willing to step forward and admit her made them weep with gratitude. How could they possibly be picky?

In truth, in a hospital—a place that condensed all facets of human life—a person’s confidence was often closely tied to their family background.

Patients from ordinary families arriving at a major hospital, facing doctors who held the power of life and death, were mostly extremely obedient, even somewhat submissive. Only those from affluent families or with some social background dared to speak loudly, make various demands, or even arrogantly pick faults and cause trouble.

Ordinary people without any backing wouldn’t dare use their loved ones’ lives to throw their weight around with the doctors.

“Don’t be so polite. This is Director Zeng Yunjun of our hospital’s Emergency Department.” Li Xu took the initiative to lead the two sons over and introduced them.

“Director Zeng, hello, hello. Sorry to trouble you so late at night,” the elder son hurriedly stepped forward.

“Mhm, don’t be nervous.” Zeng Yunjun skillfully soothed the family’s emotions and instructed politely, “We now need to immediately push the patient into the resuscitation room for further examination and assessment of her vital signs. We will discuss the specifics with you once the results are out.

“If there’s anything you need to sign or any risks we need to inform you of, we will communicate with you promptly. You family members should go over there to register and pay the fees first.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Thank you, Director Zeng. Thank you, doctors.” The two nodded hastily and ran toward the billing window.

“Let’s go. We’ll check on the patient’s condition first.” Zeng Yunjun beckoned Li Xu and Song Sisi as they followed the gurney into the emergency resuscitation room.

The patient had already undergone initial CT and MRI scans at the county hospital, and the elder son had just handed those scan films and transfer medical records to Li Xu.

Once inside the resuscitation room, the nurses immediately and skillfully hooked the patient up to an ECG monitor, administered oxygen, and established an IV line. Zeng Yunjun, Li Xu, and the others stood by the bed, carefully reviewing the imaging results sent over from the county hospital while observing the patient’s current clinical signs.

The patient was an elderly lady of sixty-six.

At present, although she was barely conscious and could open her eyes, her gaze was somewhat unfocused.

The most obvious symptom was that the entire left side of her body was completely numb and limp, her left hand and leg hanging uselessly off the side of the bed. Furthermore, she suffered from severe speech impairment, only able to produce vague “ah, ah” sounds from her mouth. The corner of her mouth visibly drooped to the right, and saliva dribbled uncontrollably down her chin.

Combined with her profound weakness, these were the classic symptoms of an acute-phase stroke with hemiplegia.