Surgery Godfather
Chapter 853 - 759: The Suspended Upper Limbs

Chapter 853: Chapter 759: The Suspended Upper Limbs

The news of Yang Ping’s arrival in the United States had already been communicated to everyone by Robert.

Woodhead and Griffin, both formal members of the WeChat group, naturally knew about this.

Li Zehui, who was applying to join the WeChat group, and Massimo, who had also received notices from Robert, dropped their work immediately and rushed to Mayo in Rochester, Minnesota.

Woodhead, who was at the Twin Cities Spine Center in Minnesota, closest to Mayo, was the first to arrive at Mayo.

Right after him came Griffin, who worked at the Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. This tumor surgery expert was adept at surgical operations for various tumors and was also familiar with interventions, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, biotherapy, and radiotherapy for tumors.

Griffin, who was always silent in the group, actually spoke Chinese very fluently. He had passed the HSK Level 4 Test. This man of action and few words had made such fast progress, making Woodhead feel inferior.

Li Zehui from the Cleveland Medical Center in Ohio and Massimo from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, were not behind the formal members, arriving at Mayo in good time.

The surgery was scheduled for the next day, so there was plenty of time. After lunch, everyone gathered in the hotel for an informal teatime and held a small internal medical academic salon to discuss some difficult cases.

They enjoyed the conversation immensely, delving into discussions about cutting-edge medical technologies. Of course, what they most looked forward to was hearing Yang Ping’s opinions, as he was their mentor.

Meanwhile, Li Zehui and Massimo took the opportunity to formally submit their Chinese membership applications. Robert interviewed them on behalf of the organization. If their applications and interviews were satisfactory, they would undergo a three-month probationary period. If they performed well during this time, the WeChat group would vote on whether to accept them as formal members.

---

The next day, the surgery began as scheduled.

The WeChat members also stayed at Mayo to observe the surgery. Without having obtained qualification for advanced training, they would have had little chance to watch Yang Ping perform surgery up close, so they cherished this opportunity dearly.

It can be said that they treasured the chance to observe more than any other doctor.

So, they arrived early and took their places in the Operating Room Teaching Room, led by a person arranged by John Ansen.

Although Mayo’s comprehensive strength is ranked first in the United States, the strength of many individual specialties is not as good as other top hospitals.

For instance, in the field of tumor research and treatment, the Anderson Cancer Center is ranked first in the United States; for the heart specialty, the Cleveland Medical Center has long been at the top of the list; and for Johns Hopkins, there is little to choose between their comprehensive strength and Mayo’s.

Johns Hopkins Hospital has created numerous firsts in the history of medicine, including the first heart bypass operation, the first corrective surgery for Tetralogy of Fallot in a newborn, the first complete sex reassignment surgery, and so on.

In clinical medicine, many operations that are now considered routine—for instance, CPR, kidney dialysis, and the use of sterile rubber gloves during surgical operations—originated from Hopkins.

One by one, people began entering the Teaching Room, and soon the room was packed.

The doctors from Mayo Clinic’s Department of Neurosurgery found several unfamiliar faces sitting in the Teaching Room, which aroused their curiosity.

The white-haired doctor and a muscular doctor sat next to these few people. The muscular doctor could not help but ask where they were from since he was certain they were not from Mayo.

This top member shook hands with each of them.

"Hello, Griffin from Anderson Cancer Center."

"Woodhead, Twin Cities Spine."

"Massimo, Johns Hopkins."

"Li Zehui, Cleveland Medical Center."

None of these individuals was a person to be taken lightly. As fellow neurosurgeons, why didn’t he recognize them? That was impossible.

The muscle man from the elites had no choice but to scout out more information, and the answer he got---they were not neurosurgeons at all, but rather specialists in tumor, spine, interventional, and heart fields.

"Are you interested in this surgery?" the muscular doctor asked curiously.

Griffin didn’t bother to answer such a trivial question; he also had no interest in chatting with the muscular man. By now, Griffin felt he and the muscular man were not doctors of the same caliber, especially since he would soon be joining a mysterious world-class medical club.

Woodhead nodded, "The Chinese doctor performing the surgery is our mentor, so we are here to learn."

Their mentor?

The muscular man was utterly confused. These top-tier professionals from various fields all regarded Yang Ping as their mentor and called themselves his students.

It would take anyone a moment to wrap their head around that.

At that moment, the muscular man’s curiosity transformed into a strange awe.

"Who are they?"

The white-haired doctor asked the muscular man.

With a hint of uncertainty, the muscular man replied, "They are all students of the Chinese doctor."

---

The surgery officially began, with the entire procedure being performed under a microscope.

This was not just a claim, but the reality of removing an eyeball to enter through the orbit.

The approach to the surgery was a bit unusual; the first step was to make a small incision on the outer side of the eye’s outer corner, then to create a small window on the bone wall.

After that, the separation and displacement of the eyeball began, with the sharp surgical knife circumferentially cutting the conjunctiva at the edge of the cornea, then descending to separate the conjunctiva and subconjunctival tissue down to below the equator of the eye.

The connections between the eyeball and the orbit consist of blood vessels, nerves, and muscles, with nerves being the structures that must be preserved, while blood vessels and muscles can be cut.

Because blood vessels can be anastomosed after cutting, and the same applies to muscles.

But nerves are different; once severed, they cannot rely on repair of the cut ends to recover function.

Once nerves are cut, the distal portion is rendered useless, and the nerve fibers inside will ultimately dissolve and disappear, leaving only an empty tube. The proximal nerve fibers, like sprouting vines, grow into the distal side, following the old nerve’s tubular pathway unceasingly forward until they finally reach the peripheral site, which is the area innervated by the nerve.

This poses a problem, as some of these nerves make mistakes during growth, some are lazy and stop growing after a certain distance, hence the number of nerves reaching their destination will definitely be reduced. If the distance required for growth is too long, it is very likely that none of the nerve fibers will reach their destination in the end.

Therefore, trauma orthopedic surgeons are not afraid of cutting blood vessels; as long as bleeding is controlled promptly and the vessels are anastomosed during surgery, there will be no long-term consequences.

However, what they most fear is nerve rupture. If a nerve is severed at a high level, that is, far from its peripheral end, then severe permanent disabilities will inevitably result postoperatively.

At the wrist, there is a nerve called the median nerve, located around the middle of the wrist and rather superficial. Many patients who attempt to cut their wrists, due to a lack of professional knowledge, fail to sever the radial artery but instead cut through the median nerve, leaving behind hand impairments that they deeply regret afterwards.

Eye transplantation is currently in the experimental stage, with only a few clinical cases reported, and the outcomes have been less than satisfactory. The reason for this lies here, as even with nerves properly connected, the quantity that grows through is insufficient to restore vision.

The surgery continued, with further separation of the four rectus muscles of the eye. At the insertion points of these muscles, an 8-shaped suture with fine thread was used before cutting the muscles. The medial rectus was left with approximately 0.5mm of tendon stump, which was sutured for eyeball traction.

Then, starting from the upper inner side, the optic nerve was separated and continuously dissected deeper to achieve a generous length. Using the suture thread tied to the stump of the medial rectus as a traction line, the eyeball was gently maneuvered to see how much it could be displaced.

Finally, the most challenging step, one by one, the branches of the ophthalmic artery were dissected and protected from damage. Then, following them, their distribution trunk—the ophthalmic artery—was located and cut, with tiny non-damaging threads used for marking.

This part of the procedure involving separation and cutting of the vessels had to be conducted collaboratively through the access from the orbit and through the window at the lateral orbit.

The ophthalmologists from Mayo watched the procedure intently from above. Even for them, such a surgery was unusual, but having just observed Yang Ping’s handling of the ophthalmic artery, they had to admit that this Chinese doctor was indeed a world-class ophthalmologist.

The knowledge Chinese Doctors have of eye anatomy had already surpassed that of any ophthalmologist at Mayo, with the entire surgical process not losing a single drop of blood. Moreover, his level of operation under the microscope was extremely high, conducted throughout while suspending both arms in the air, without the need to rest them on the operating table for support.

"Use ice gauze to protect the eyeball!"

Yang Ping instructed his assistant, who at this time was not John Ansen, but an ophthalmologist.

The ophthalmologist carefully wrapped the eyeball with sterile ice saline-soaked gauze.

Yang Ping noticed that every piece of gauze at Mayo had a QR code, allowing the tracing of the gauze through scanning. The American management system was indeed well-established.

In the teaching room at that moment.

The live video stream continuously showed the procedures within the surgical field, with a high-definition screen in the upper right corner displaying a larger thumbnail video that captured the entire upper limbs of the Chief Surgeon and the assistant.

The Chief Surgeon was conducting the entire microscopic operation without touching the ground with his upper limbs?

How could the speed of the suspended operation be so fast?

Every doctor was thoroughly impressed by such suspended handling, as the level of operation under the microscope is something every neurosurgeon aspires to achieve in a lifetime. Without significant abilities in microscopic operation, one simply cannot become a neurosurgeon.

If any other doctors were to perform it, their elbows would have to be propped on the operating table, which would be the only way to guarantee stability and avoid tremor under the microscope.

A suspended operation may be feasible for a short time, but it is incredibly difficult to maintain for a longer duration.

Moreover, in a suspended operation, the movements are generally slower and lack the ability to be quick and agile.

Yet Yang Ping was performing a suspended operation, and the surgery still to come also involved suspended maneuvers.

This wasn’t Yang Ping showing off or boasting; for him, operating with his arms suspended under the microscope was very stable, so why should he find it necessary to rest his elbows on the operating table? It would be redundant.

"All his maneuvers just now were conducted with his arms suspended?" the white-haired doctor asked in surprise.

The muscular man took it lightly, "The procedures so far have been rough, not a big deal. Later, when entering the more precise intracranial operation, sustaining the arms suspended for a long time won’t be possible."

"But the separation of the ophthalmic artery and the optic nerve just now are also considered precise procedures, especially the separation of the ophthalmic artery and its branches?" the white-haired doctor had watched very clearly.

Members of the WeChat group sat together, discussing the surgery in low voices in Chinese.

"The professor is becoming more and more impressive, his hands are so steady even when operating suspended."

"Yeah, any support would only slow him down and make him feel less agile."