64 – TAVR

The top hospital administrator oversaw Mr. Ping's operation through a live feed. Their faces were filled with astonishment and awe. The entire surgery happened without any complications. Still reeling from shock, the director replayed the video.

The video showed Li Yun inserting the nine needles according to Doctor Yi Bao and Doctor Xu's recommendation. The doctors made the suggestion of the points, but Li Yun adjusted the positioning of the needles to accurately reflect the location of the points within the body. The points changed slightly according to the person. Although it was very minor, it was enough to drastically reduce the level of pain received by the brain.

Was this something Li Yun could do on his own? Definitely not. Acupuncture involved more than just inserting the needle at the correct point. There were different methods of inserting the needle, like whether to keep the needle at the location, whether it was only to pierce it until the qi was released, and whether he should press on the point after inserting. There were also nine different types of needles. Only experienced acupuncturists would know the correct procedure.

Afterward, everyone waited for the acupuncture to take effect. There were cases of acupuncture-assisted anesthesia, but using acupuncture to completely substitute anesthesia was unheard of. Although it took a bit longer, Li Yun didn't mind.

Li Yun checked the pulse again, making sure the blood was in a calm wiry state before starting the operation. Sterilizing and inserting the catheter was simple, but navigating through the artery was difficult. Li Yun performed the craniotomy angioplasty first, which was the trickiest and longest route, from the femoral artery in the groin up to the heart. After an hour, Li Yun finally made it to the clot and inserted a stent. The valve in the heart only took half the time to adjust into place.

To Li Yun, it felt like he did a lot of work. However, in the video, it looked like he stood in front of the patient doing nothing for two hours. Once in the while, the nurse would hand him the catheters and gauge wires.

Without any type of real-time imaging, no one was unable to understand what was going on. The doctor could only see the results after Mr. Ping took a CT scan showing the image of the brain and heart with the stent and valve in place. Any doctor without any background knowledge of the procedure would never discern what was going on just based on the surgical video.

Performing interventional radiology without live imagining and dying agents was unheard of, but it was the acupuncture that amazed everyone. No one had seen acupuncture reduce the pain that was comparable to anesthesia before. There had been attempts, but they had always been assisted by local anesthesia.

"Doctor Yi, is this what they call a miracle doctor?" Doctor Xu wondered. It was the first time he was questioning whether he was practicing TCM correctly.

Old Yi Bao was even more in a state of shock. Yi Ansha had to nudge her grandfather a bit.

"It's like he knows exactly where the points are located," Old Yi Bao murmured.

There were basic maps of meridians, but the true exact locations were difficult to pinpoint. Only through experience would a doctor know where to insert. The closer the location, the better the result. Even then, it heavily relied on the patient's mindset.

If the acupoints were located in the center of a bullseye, TCM doctors were basically throwing darts. However, Li Yun was like a thrower standing next to the bullseye and simply inserting the darts right in the middle. Old Yi Bao had heard stories of ancient doctors being capable of such a feat, but it was a long-lost art.

When the surgery ended, everyone was still in shock. Professor Shao Shan invited everyone to dinner and tried another attempt to recruit Li Yun.

"When I first saw you at the station, I knew you were skilled, but now I know that I have severely underestimated your ability," Professor Shao Shan toasted to Li Yun.

"Are you impressed by the surgery itself or the acupuncture?" Chief Zhang asked.

"Acupuncture. To be honest, there isn't a lot of need for interventional radiology without live imagining," Professor Shao Shan was aware that the number of people who needed surgery without a dying agent was rare; not everyone had kidney problems or had severe reactions to iodine. In most cases, it was not something easily taught to other people.

Using acupuncture as a replacement for anesthesia, however, was sensational news that would affect the entire medical community. The only reason why it hadn't exploded yet was because Governor Ping didn't want to release the video. Through words of mouth, more people would eventually know of Li Yun's ability.

"Do you think acupuncture can replace anesthesia?" Chief Zhang asked Li Yun.

"It's not easy," Li Yun shook his head. He wasn't sure if acupuncture was a viable means to replace anesthesia. If any of the points were off, there wasn't much effect. There was also a matter of the elderly Mr. Ping's faith in the old ways. Faith was a powerful placebo that was often neglected.

"That's too bad," Chief Zhang and Professor Shao Shan both thought it was a shame.

"The TCM department would like to hire you as well, but I told them if we were able to pool in the salary, we might be able to convince you," Professor Shao Shan said as he finished his drink. "2 million yuan and 15 weeks vacation."

Li Yun was tempted. Not a lot of top surgeons had that type of salary. Not only the hospitals, but after Mr. Ping surgery, many companies had also increased their initial offer. The highest offer was 2.5 million yuan salary.

It was helpful that Chief Zhang was also at the table and made a 1.5 million yuan offer. Li Yun wasn't sure if Chief Zhang was authorized to make the offer while drunk, but if it was true, Li Yun would consider it. 1.5 million yuan in Qinbei was a lot considering the cost of living was much lower than Magic City.

However, even without the offer, Li Yun still preferred Qinbei. Although there was hospital politics, it was not as bad as the hospitals in large cities. Li Yun had seen the meetings and the way the hospital functioned and there were too many red tapes. Even with his ability, there were things he could do at Qinbei that he couldn't do in Magic City. Only after accumulating more accolades would he gain more privileges.

Before returning to Yide, Li Yun met with Old Yi Bao and Ansha. The elder gave Li Yun a booklet containing his experience and his ancestor's experience. Yi Ansha was surprised that her grandfather was willing to pass down the lineage to an outsider. However, for Old Yi Bao, Li Yun had already surpassed the old stories and was worthy of the book.

Upon returning from Magic City, Chief Zhang explained to Director Hong the situation. TAVR was not a well-known procedure in China, but if they open up the ED to accept cases, they would be considered the fifth hospital in the country capable of performing TAVR independently. In addition, they would be the only hospital in the country, and possibly the world that could perform surgery without the need for an angiogram.

It wasn't long before Li Yun accepted the offer at Qinbei Hospital as an attending in the Emergency Department. Since Chief Zhang was officially in charge of ED with ACS as a sub-unit, Chief Lim managed the ACS unit while Chief Gao managed the ED.

"I can not believe it only takes you seven months to become the boss," Lui Jing was a bit jealous.

Most of the residents already knew it wasn't a question of if, but when. They just didn't expect it to happen so soon.

As the department head meeting, Director Hong formally introduced him as an ACS attending. The old attendings who had conflicts with him were not happy. However, they didn't dare to criticize.

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