Chapter 85: Chapter 0083 Visit to the Operating Room

Director Tan and his disciples have been here several times and have toured the operating room, but they were just fleeting visits. This time, they need to look closer.

The three men stood near the operating room they had just visited.

Director Tian enthusiastically introduced the condition of the operating room: “Our Orthopedics Department currently has eight operating rooms. There are three in the Trauma Orthopedics, two in the Spine and Joints each and one in Sports Medicine. Out of the eight operating rooms, four are primary operating rooms, each ward has one. Our trauma orthopedics’ main operating room is this one, which includes a teaching room and a storage room. The general operating rooms only have storage rooms.”

“Hmmm, Sanbo Hospital has first-rate hardware!” Tan Boyun exclaimed, but quickly added, “I mean, the technical hardware is top-notch!”

Tian Yuan pointed to the other two operating rooms, continuing, “These two operating rooms are also for our Trauma Orthopedics, they are general operating rooms.”

The setup was similar to Fuer Hospital’s, but Sanbo’s main operating room also had a teaching room.

“How many C-arm machines do you have?” Tan Boyun was particularly interested in this.

Last time, Director Han gave a general introduction, but this time he needed a more precise understanding in order to carry out future work efficiently.

In some hospitals where surgeries are frequent but have fewer C-arm machines, embarrassing situations often arise where staff fight over the machines.

“We have three C-arm machines, two are new and one is old. We have one over here, there is one in the Spine and Joints, which is G-shaped, and one old one for the Joints and Sports Medicine since they use it less often,” Tian Yuan gave a detailed introduction.

“What about the microscopes?” Dr. Zhong asked.

Tian Yuan replied, “We have three microscopes from Carl Zeiss. Come over and take a look.”

Tian Yuan led them through the main operating room to the storage room, where the patient from the prior surgery was already waking up from anesthesia, prepping to move to their bed.

Dr. Zhong was passing by Yang Ping’s side, so he bowed slightly in greeting, albeit rather awkwardly, “We’re getting familiar with the operating room equipment.”

Director Tan also waved in greeting, “Hard work pays off!”

Tian Yuan introduced, “This is Dr. Yang! I’m showing Director Tian and Dr. Zhong the microscope.”

Yang Ping immediately got up to shake their hands, “No worries, it’s not tough. Take your time to familiarize yourselves.”

After the greetings, Tian Yuan took them to the storage room where a microscope was placed.

“This microscope was purchased not too long ago. It has completed a replantation of a one-month-old infant’s five fingers, an adult’s upper limb’s five-section replantation, and has so far completed nearly 200 finger replantations. The microscope next door bought when our hospital was established has completed our hospital’s first case of free toe-to-thumb reconstruction, fingertip construction, and five-digit three-section replantation using a single hand on a child,” Tian Yuan narrated enthusiastically. Each piece of equipment held its own story.

“Who usually does the microsurgery?” Dr. Zhong asked, adjusting the eyepiece. The microscope was similar to their hospital’s, but surprisingly, it had performed a baby’s finger replantation.

“Normally, I do it, along with Xiao Yang and Xiao Song, they do it more often. They’re young; without surgeries to keep them busy, they can’t grow. In cases we can’t handle, that’s when Director Han steps in,” Tian Yuan explained.

“This ultrasound bone knife is great!” Tan Boyun, with his sharp eye, saw an ultrasound bone knife inside.

This device is very useful. When cutting bones, it won’t harm the surrounding nerves and blood vessels. Its cutting has selectivity, only cutting the hard and leaving the soft untouched.

“The ultrasound bone knife is used more by the Spine and Joints team. We rarely use it. All this equipment is shared by the large Orthopedics team. Last time, when Director Han was reforming a malunion of an old pelvic fracture, the ultrasound bone knife was pulled over here, it was temporarily placed here and has not been moved yet,” Tian Yuan uncovered the dust cover protecting the ultrasound bone knife.

“Your equipment is very sophisticated.” Tan Boyun felt reassured seeing that everything that should be present was there.

“It’s OUR equipment that’s sophisticated!” Tian Yuan corrected with a laugh.

“Right, right, OUR equipment is sophisticated.” Tan Boyun immediately corrected himself, with a chuckling laugh.

“The approval procedures for our equipment have been vastly simplified. In Fuer, the large-scale equipment is entirely financed by the government. Over here in Sanbo, there’s support from an Overseas Chinese Foundation. The Foundation not only supports the purchase of equipment but is also responsible for supporting doctors’ overseas research and scientific research funds. The laboratory our Orthopedics Institute is currently applying for grants from the Foundation.”

Although they all belong to hospitals directly under the provincial Health Department, none of the affiliated hospitals of Nandu Medical University can be compared with Sanbo, irrespective of their strength, lineage or history.

Even though Han Jiangong was originally from Magic City Sixth Hospital and was a representative figure of the young faction in the orthopedics field at that time, the reputation of an individual cannot take the place of a hospital’s brand. The brand value of a hospital requires time to build up.

Fuer Hospital’s comprehensive strength is dominant in the province. The third branch is a specialist cancer hospital nationally renowned, and the fourth is a specialist orthopedic hospital. Although it’s a specialist orthopedics hospital, its reputation cannot be compared with the orthopedics department of the first and second branches. The potential for future development is promising.

The other hospitals can only be the second choice. The Provincial People’s Hospital and the City People’s Hospital belong to the second tier. The Provincial People’s Hospital is stronger than the City People’s Hospital. All of the hospitals have a high patient inflow and perform numerous surgeries. There isn’t a significant difference in size when compared with the first and second branches, the only difference is in academic status, which can’t be compared with the Nandu system at all.

The Nandu Traditional Chinese Medicine College Affiliated Hospitals, the Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, and the Municipal Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital form their own system, also belonging to the second tier.

The Nandu system, the People’s system, and the Traditional Chinese Medicine system, these three forces coexist peacefully with a balanced pattern, each with its traditional stronghold.

Sanbo Hospital doesn’t belong to any faction and is located in a remote area. When the hospital was established, people were hired from the Nandu and the People’s system. Not many were willing to come; most of them were poached from other places.

So, Sanbo has always been inconspicuous and unnoticed by these hospitals. However, in the past few years, these hospitals were startled to find that Sanbo had unexpectedly begun to develop.

When Doctor Tan and Doctor Zhong shifted to Sanbo Hospital, the medical setup made them feel superior, as technology enthusiasts often have a wild and unruly spirit.

After inspecting the main operating theater, they moved on to the others.

“Director Tan, over here, come see this,” Tian Yuan guided, leading them to the end of a hallway, to a closed door.

Director Tian entered a code, the door opened automatically, revealing a complete contrast to the operating rooms they’d just visited, they had seen the operation room before, but not this place.

“These are newly constructed multi-functional operating rooms, already inspected and ready for operation, take a look!”

Through the small observation window in the door, this one looks several times larger than a regular operating room, filled with screens of various sizes, robotic arms, and other equipment.

“A surgical robot? Da Vinci!” Doctor Zhong exclaimed in surprise.

Director Tan was also interested. The automatic door opened, and they all walked in. This large operating room was accompanied by several auxiliary rooms: an operation room, storage room, and teaching room.

“Is it the Da Vinci surgical robot?” Director Tan confirmed.

“Our hospital also bought a Da Vinci, but it’s only used by the thoracic, general, and urological surgery departments. We in orthopedics can’t use it,” Director Tan regretfully added.

The Da Vinci surgical robot currently cannot perform orthopedic surgery. This robot is quite expensive, with a unit price ranging from tens of millions, and a startup fee of twenty thousand each time a surgery is performed.

“This one was directly donated by the Overseas Chinese Foundation. We actually prefer local products if we were to purchase ourselves,” Tian Yuan explained.

Robotic surgery is a new technology in surgical fields in recent years, leading the trend in high-end technology. Currently, it is heavily utilized at affiliated hospitals of Zhengzhou University, Zhejiang University, and 301. Within the country, only a few dozen such robots have been installed, mostly used in thoracic, abdominal, and urological surgeries.

“It’s truly a shame that Da Vinci can’t be used for orthopedic surgeries,” Professor Tan expressed his disappointment.

“Director Tan, let’s check the next operating room!”

There were several multi-purpose operating rooms in the same row. They all went to another one.

“Tianji?” Tianji, a domestic surgical robot, can perform orthopedic procedures.

Director Tan’s eyes lit up. Director Tian explained, “This one we bought ourselves, using money from the foundation. It’s just as good as the imported ones, albeit we only have one for now.”

“What a wonderful piece of technology, truly wonderful!” Director Tan admired, caressing the robotic arm and looking around the operating table.

While Da Vinci is an American product, it can’t perform orthopedic surgeries. Tianji, on the other hand, is locally produced and can handle orthopedic procedures – it’s the only orthopedic robot in the world capable of conducting surgeries on the whole spine, pelvis, and limbs.

But these high-end technologies are not perfect, machines can always make mistakes. In one country, a patient’s major artery was punctured by a robot during heart surgery, leading to their death a week after the operation.

Surgical robots are not actual robots, as the name might misleadingly suggest – they don’t perform surgeries by themselves. It’s more precise to call them remote surgery systems, where the surgeon doesn’t need to be at the operating table, instead commanding the robotic arm to perform the surgery by watching a video screen from some distance.

At the end of the day, surgeons are still in control, it just so happens that robotic arms are more stable and precise than human hands.

This entire process is similar to a remote-controlled toy excavator.

“All these surgery rooms are designed with lead walls for radiation protection, that side will be the operating room, and the operating desk will be set there.”

Director Tian went into the operating room, touched the display screen, and sat on the operation desk chair to get a sense of it.

What a great platform. Choosing to come to Sanbo was definitely the right decision. Back at Fuer, they felt stifled and were unsure when they might be able to make their mark. Now, they felt a surge of ambition and determination stirring within them.

“Will this robot be exclusively for our orthopedics department?” Director Tan asked excitedly.

“At present, it will be shared among the major orthopedics departments, and we plan to buy another one. So, the trauma orthopedics department will have one robot, and the other departments will share another one. Director Tan, you’ll get your chance to shine.” Tian Yuan said.

“Our hospital started later and has a less solid foundation, so we need to catch up. We can’t fall behind on equipment,” Tian Yuan modestly said.

“Yes, you need a good axe to chop wood,” Director Tan said.

Next door, there was also a multi-functional surgery room for sports medicine.

Director Tan was not particularly interested in that, as he was specialized in trauma orthopedics.

In the future, they are going to make a significant contribution!

Tan Boyun thought, feeling quite pleased.