Chapter 2581 - 2555: Blood Extraction (New Year’s Day Bonus Update)

Manbao entered the room, which was very quiet. Director Xiao was feeding medicine to someone, but it wasn’t going down well, so he switched to using a reed to administer the medicine.

Seeing Zhou Man, Director Xiao turned aside to let her see the patient and introduced the condition in detail, "A stick hit him on the head. Do you see the depression on the side? The cranial bone is fractured and depressed, and there is bleeding inside."

Manbao stepped forward and took a closer look. She waited until they finished feeding the medicine before carefully reaching out to touch the area. Doctor Xiao cautiously came forward to support the patient’s head.

The two slowly moved his head, allowing her to see more clearly, "The wound has been treated. Now the external wound is only slightly bleeding, but the internal condition can’t be seen. But from the slight pressure and the color of the flesh, he’s bleeding inside the skull. The medicine that was just administered is a hemostatic."

Director Xiao paused and then said, "This is already the second bowl."

Manbao asked, "Has he woken up?"

"He woke up for a while, but there was no light in his eyes. He soon fainted again. We’ve called him numerous times, but he hasn’t woken up."

Thus, he let someone inform the emperor that the person might not make it.

For someone with a head injury, the greatest fear is a coma and unconsciousness.

Manbao frowned. Teacher Mo had said that the most critical concern for a brain injury with bleeding is a brain herniation. She felt his pulse, which was not good.

Director Xiao’s hands were still supporting his head. Manbao glanced at the pillow and said, "Elevate it a bit more."

Imperial Doctor Liu immediately had someone fetch another soft pillow to support it.

Director Xiao gently laid down his head, exposing the injured side of the brain, and asked her, "Can you perform bloodletting on him?"

Manbao had never done it before, not even on a mannequin. She had directly performed craniotomies, but obviously, it wasn’t possible to do a craniotomy here.

She didn’t know if he’d die without a craniotomy, but she knew that in the current environment, if she did perform one, he would definitely die.

"With a needle to draw blood?"

"It’s the only method we have now," said Director Xiao. "The needle you used for blood transfusion might be useful. It could draw out the clotted blood from inside the brain first."

Manbao asked, "How confident are you?"

"Less than twenty percent," he said. "We’ll do our best and leave the rest to fate."

Without being able to see inside the brain, nobody knew where the bleeding points were. The needle might hit other areas.

The human brain is peculiar. Once there’s damage, no one can predict the consequences. Even Director Xiao had never dealt with such a patient, and could only make decisions based on years of experience.

This matter couldn’t be spoken openly, or else it would not only cause panic in the Imperial Hospital but also give outsiders an excuse to criticize it.

But the skilled Manbao and Imperial Doctor Liu understood the implication of the words.

The two exchanged glances, considered for a moment, and seeing no better solution, they nodded.

Manbao added, "Get some ice, and apply cold compresses to him."

Director Xiao, "Cold compresses? Yes, it could slow down the bleeding."

Manbao aimed at reducing the cranial pressure.

The physician from the Imperial Hospital jogged back to find the blood transfusion device. The emperor, upon seeing it, thought it was for a transfusion and turned to look at Prince Hebei, who immediately rolled up his sleeve signaling to draw his blood; he was willing to give blood to Zheng Erlang.

Those in the room ignored him. Manbao rolled up her sleeves, took a needle, and sat on a high chair. "I’ll do it."

Director Xiao and Imperial Doctor Liu stood by to assist.

Manbao spent quite a few points for Keke, and the head in front of her slowly became three-dimensional. Manbao blinked, glanced at the head just scanned by Keke in her mind, compared them, and slowly found a position, saying to Keke, "Scan it again."

Keke, very pleased, deducted points while scanning. A real-time image appeared, and even Manbao’s hand was scanned in.

Manbao compared the images, slightly moving down a bit, "Scan again."

Keke cooperated seamlessly, deducted another point, and simultaneously another image appeared in Manbao’s mind.

Under normal circumstances, she could slowly compare after scanning an image. But clearly, there was no such time now.

She adjusted her position slightly and said to Keke, "Scan at sixteen times. It should be more detailed, right?"

"Yes, but the points are also high."

Manbao was bold, "Am I someone lacking points now?"

Keke deducted unceremoniously.

A clearer scan appeared in Manbao’s mind, even the spot of bleeding inside the brain was clearly visible.

Manbao glanced at the position, confirmed she found the most suitable spot, and gently inserted the needle.

She didn’t dare insert it too deeply, just estimated a bit, then asked Keke to scan again. Based on the scanned image, she decided whether to insert deeper...

Director Xiao and Imperial Doctor Liu watched her move the needle continuously, each move was tiny, just rotating in that area, without inserting it...

Director Xiao thought she was afraid and was about to take over, but then she inserted it.

Director Xiao: ...

He paused, waiting for her to calm down and inquire why she chose this spot. Then he saw her gently insert it a bit further, and red appeared in the transparent sheep intestine connected to the needle tail. Director Xiao was startled, then took scissors to cut, leaving only a section of the intestine tube.

A drop of crimson blood dripped down, and an assistant brought a copper basin to catch the blood.

Director Xiao glanced and said, "Add some water, record how many drops of blood drip in total."

The assistant complied, added water to the copper basin, and squatted to count.

Manbao gently pressed the needle, scanned with Keke, then breathed a sigh of relief. This needle did not harm the brain tissue.

With the aid of points, Manbao extracted blood from three positions, and in continuous comparison, gained a more intuitive understanding of his brain injury.

Manbao memorized, and upon confirming no more active blood could be drawn, withdrew the needle and said to Director Xiao, "I think his hair should be shaved to reduce the risk of exterior wound infection."

Director Xiao had this intention too but thought to wait until his condition improved a bit before taking action; otherwise, if leading to voluntary death, why cut the beautiful hair?

So he asked, "Now that the blood has been drawn, how confident are you?"

Manbao now had a good understanding of the situation inside his brain. There was a swelling, two bleeding points, but the bleeding speed had significantly slowed, combined with medication and acupuncture treatment...

After weighing it, Manbao said, "Fifty percent?"

Upon hearing this, Director Xiao immediately said, "Then shave it."

Shaving a head, besides a barber, there were doctors skilled in trauma.

And who was the most famous trauma doctor in the Imperial Hospital?

Everyone looked at Zhou Man.

Manbao: ...

Having no choice, she took scissors, snipped the person’s hair close to the scalp, and with the assistance of Director Xiao and Imperial Doctor Liu carefully shaved his head. Of course, they focused on shaving the injured area and its surroundings.

Outside, the emperor first saw a basin of blood water being carried out, heard it was drawn from Zheng Erlang’s brain, and felt a chill.

Then someone came out holding a tray of hair. The emperor looked over, and Gu Zhong stopped the person to inquire. After hearing it was shaved by Doctor Zhou and others for easier follow-up treatment, the emperor felt hopeful again.