Just when everything seemed to be wrapping up smoothly.
The ECG monitor suddenly emitted a few sharp beepsâbeep, beep.
An alarm? Zhang Tinghai turned his head.
The sudden turn of events happened so fast. Before he had time to take a closer look, a prolonged beep sounded, and the patientâs heart rhythm curve appeared to have flattened?
Cardiac arrest?
Whatâs going on?
No major bleeding, the gallbladder was already removed, and the surgical knife wasnât near the gallbladder triangle.
Zhang Tinghaiâs mouth opened into a perfect circle. In these few seconds, he felt as though he was trapped in a nightmareâa recurring nightmare spanning the past two weeks.
The other people in the operating room momentarily thought they had heard wrong.
The two chief surgeons shot their heads up and turned instantly.
Someone shouted suddenly, "The patientâs heart has stoppedâ"
The two chief surgeons immediately put down their surgical instruments and rushed over to perform chest compressions on the patient. The surgery was paused entirely; rescuing the patientâs heartbeat took precedence.
Gao Zhaocheng sprang into action, but before he could reach, a figure streaked past everyone like a bolt of lightning, moving faster than any of them, and plunged straight to the edge of the operating table.
It was Zhang Huayao, raising his fist to deliver a precordial thump to the patientâs chest. After the strikeâno effect.
Screams erupted in the operating room: "Bring the defibrillator!"
The anesthesiologist and nurses scrambled to push the emergency defibrillator into the operating room, but Zhang Huayao ignored it.
The defibrillator? What good could it do? If it worked, those earlier thumps wouldâve worked too. Both a defibrillator and a precordial thump primarily address arrhythmias and are most effective for ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia. Certain arrhythmias donât prioritize defibrillator use; whether to use one must be considered cautiously. Ventricular fibrillation or tachycardia may signal impending cardiac arrest in some patients, but not all cases of cardiac arrest involve these conditions.
If thereâs no ventricular fibrillation or tachycardia, a completely stopped heart renders the defibrillator useless. As a cardiology specialist, Zhang Huayao knew this all too well. Without a second thought, his hands overlapped on the patientâs chest, initiating chest compressions.
One, two, three, four, five, sixâsharp, forceful motions. When the cardiology boss performed compressions, it was ferocious, almost frenzied.
The bossâs reactions were swift and precise!
Everyone else in the room watched his actions, holding their breath one by one.
Press, press, and press againâwas the patientâs heartbeat returning to normal?
The only sound left in the operating room was Zhang Huayaoâs heavy breathing as he continued external chest compressions.
Despite Zhang Huayaoâs aggressive efforts, the patientâs heart showed no sign of recovery.
The legs of the doctors present began to weaken. Without any warning, the patientâs heart directly stopped right before their eyes? The surgery had been remarkably smooth, nearing completion, yet this sudden black-swan event felt like an explosive shock that left their minds blank.
Huff, huffâhot breath surged repeatedly from behind the surgical masks worn by the doctors. The mix of hot and cold air seemed to make their bodies tremble.
"Call Cardiothoracic Surgery!" Gao Zhaocheng snapped back to his senses and turned to dash out to call for the specialists.
No one understood why the heart had failed, but if prolonged chest compressions proved futile, the only option left was for Cardiothoracic Surgery to step in, open the chest, and perform cardiac massageâa last-ditch gamble with life and death.
"What do you mean call Cardiothoracic Surgery?" A thunderous shout interrupted Gao Zhaochengâs steps.
He turned back and saw that the one yelling was Zhang Tinghai.
"Why ask Cardiothoracic Surgery when you could ask her?" Zhang Tinghai suddenly pointed at Xie Wanying.
Had the anesthesiologist lost his mind? Was he spouting nonsense?
Now wasnât the time to consult someone from Hepatobiliary Surgery who was still an intern, instead of calling specialists from the cardiology team.