A Hospital in Another World?

Chapter 351: Ethereal Guidance for Drilling and Drainage

To understand the condition inside a patient, summon an ethereal creature for a peek?

Garrett Nordmark was dumbfounded. Well, this was not scientific at all, but it was indeed very magical.

If the doctors from my previous life knew of this method, they would probably weep tears of envy for such medical conditions. Oh, some of the predecessors might even inquire how to transform into an ethereal being after death, to personally observe with their own eyes, aiming for further progress.

By that time, though, I guess there wouldn’t be any "eyes" left...

Garrett Nordmark silently commented, focusing his attention on Archmage Serrano’s narration. Indeed, the observation results from the ethereal creature were impressive, detailing which tiny blood vessel had burst, where there was a cluster of blood clots, and a piece of cerebrospinal fluid looking red throughout – all could be described.

Occasionally, when something couldn’t be described, Archmage Serrano would point a finger, and whoosh, a cold breeze would sweep past...

Let the ethereal creature take another look? Honestly, this was much more convenient than redoing an endoscopy, colonoscopy, or bronchoscopy when things weren’t clear.

As for the amount of cerebral hemorrhage...

Garrett Nordmark took out his notebook, retrieved the ?Endless Ink Pen?, and began calculating on the spot.

Ah, with the description from the ethereal creature, calculating the blood volume with the ?Silent Phantom?’s outlined images was much more convenient than using CT images. The latter supposedly required formulas, which he had never calculated before; the former... it was just a three-dimensional geometry problem!

High school math was enough!

Garrett Nordmark’s expression grew more solemn as he calculated. After finishing, he took a deep breath, turned around, and pointed at the ?Silent Phantom?, explaining to the patient’s wife:

"Please look, during the frenzy, blood vessels in his brain burst, causing a lot of bleeding—this is what the ethereal creature saw. Lord Martin’s healing spell has stopped the bleeding, but the amount of blood previously lost formed clots, pressing on the brain. That’s why the patient has not woken up, and cannot speak or move."

"What should we do?" The woman in white wolf fur frowned:

"The bleeding has stopped, another use—do we have to cut open the skull to remove the blood clots? Won’t it harm the brain???"

Cut open the skull?

You’re brave!

Garrett Nordmark was impressed. But recalling that primitive human skulls found in archaeological digs had indeed been drilled into, or even had pieces cut out. Some skull edges even showed signs of bone regrowth, indicating the patient had survived the operation.

This shows, ancient humans when brave, had nothing on modern humans, not to mention with the aid of healing spells...

"It’s like this, the brain is not one whole piece but two hemispheres, and underneath, the cerebellum and other parts are different blocks..." Garrett Nordmark explained as detailed as possible. Unexpectedly, Olga waved her hand decisively:

"No need to explain, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Just tell me what to do."

You haven’t actually cut open a human brain yourself, have you?

Garrett Nordmark almost shuddered. He looked at Olga with an especially admiring gaze and cautiously answered:

"My idea is, we only need to make a small incision. Insert a tube to suck out the blood clots. A thin, soft tube, gently inserted, can minimize damage. I can see the position of the tube, and it would be even better if the ethereal creature could help guide us."

"Can do." Archmage Serrano nodded gravely. He looked at Olga’s white wolf fur and the crow bone staff in her hand with a cautious gaze:

"I can use the ?Silent Phantom? to create a model, marking the position of the blood vessels. If it still misses, causing damage to the brain—"

His concern was met with two responses. Garrett Nordmark took over:

"My operation will be as precise as possible. The damage will not be great, my healing spell should be enough to handle it."

Garrett Nordmark’s voice was slightly hesitant, word by word, yet clear. Contrarily, Priest Martin was full of confidence:

"I’ll be ready to assist at any moment."

"Good!"

Olga clapped her hands. She bowed slightly to the three, staring at Garrett Nordmark:

"Tell us what we need to prepare. Please feel free to proceed with the treatment, even if it doesn’t cure, we will remember your kindness!"

Garrett Nordmark nodded vigorously. He directed everyone to move the giant man indoors, clean the room, and hang clean white cloths from the ceiling and around. They washed the giant’s head and face, shaved him clean, and then gave him an additional cleansing spell sweep. He pulled out alcohol and began to scrub scrub scrub scrub scrub—

Then, it was time for the craniotomy!

Garrett Nordmark had not actually prepared for a craniotomy. Without a saw or drill, and not being a neurosurgeon or an orthopedic surgeon, this was unexpected. However, to his surprise, Olga produced a small silver dagger, blew on it, and immediately familiar light flickered on it:

"Where should we cut?"

Uh, enchant the weapon and then go straight in? Sister, don’t be so fierce! At the very least, wash your hands first!

Garrett Nordmark sent her to wash her hands while he busied himself preparing things like syringes for suction. By the time Olga returned, Garrett Nordmark had already performed a local anesthesia spell, and with the ?Mage’s Trick?, drew a 3-centimeter arc on the scalp:

"Take it slow, follow my arc with the cut, not too deep. First, cut open the scalp—"

The silver dagger in Olga’s hand skillfully made a turn. A small piece of scalp was cut open, and blood immediately started flowing. Priest Martin just mentioned on the side: "This will flow into the brain—"

The ?Mage Hand?was already up, lifting the flap of skin. Garrett Nordmark quickly dabbed it with a glass rod.

Inside the glass rod was a thin silver wire, the very tool Garrett Nordmark made for guiding bacterium cultivation spells, focusing the divine spell’s range. At the tip of the silver wire, a faint light silently flickered, immediately stopping the minor bleeding.

Nicely done!

Garrett Nordmark patted himself on the back. He rinsed the skull with saline, exposing the bone plate. The ?Mage Hand?struck again, peeling away the periosteum, then, with the ?Mage’s Trick?, drew a small and tiny circle on the exposed periosteum:

"Right here. Just drill a hole."

The silver dagger made another turn. A fine line appeared on the patient’s skull, unmoving.

Garrett Nordmark: "..."

Sister, you planning to do this barehanded? Skulls are hard bones; in clinical settings, we use a drill!

Yet, the White Wolf lady just went for it. Other than Garrett Nordmark, no bystander found anything amiss...

Archmage Serrano threw a ?High-Level Weapon Enchantment? on the silver dagger, and bestowed ?Bull’s Strength? and ?Cat’s Grace? on the White Wolf lady, while Priest Martin cast a light of blessing on her. Olga took a deep breath, exhaled deeply, and made another move with the dagger.

Quickly, a piece of pale yellow skull was picked up on the tip of the silver dagger.

"Next, it’s your turn."

"I know!"

Garrett Nordmark swallowed, stepping forward. He delicately made a cross incision on the dura mater, held a seed between his hands, and concentrated. Green vines emerged, carrying a strand of silver wire previously sterilized and finer than a strand of hair, quietly probing into the interior of the dura mater.

Garrett Nordmark squatted slightly, eye level with the patient’s skull. Opposite him, a ?Mage Hand?held the ?Endless Ink Pen?, acting as an onsite X-ray. On the left side of the skull, Archmage Serrano summoned the ?Silent Phantom?, coordinating with the ethereal creature’s observation, demonstrating in real-time the route the vine took...

Garrett Nordmark proceeded very slowly. The vine advanced one centimeter, then he checked the X-ray; another centimeter, then checked the ?Silent Phantom?. The vine meandered through the brain tissue and between sulci, continuously moving forward.

This operation method, compared to the previous life’s biopsy needles, obviously caused much less damage to the patient’s brain tissue...

Garrett Nordmark assessed internally. Soon, the tip of the vine slightly retracted, gathered strength for a moment, then suddenly drilled into the blood clot, starting to stir the coagulated blood.

"This won’t do... can’t suck it out..."

Priest Martin said disappointingly. Garrett Nordmark remained silent, pulling out a syringe he had prepared earlier, attaching it to the other end of the vine. Concentrating, he slowly began to suck. The speed couldn’t be too fast, as reducing brain pressure too quickly could damage the brain; nor too slow, as insufficient negative pressure wouldn’t suck anything out...

1ml... 2ml... 3ml... The syringe was pulled to its limit, clamped the vine, withdrew the syringe to wrap it again, then repeated the process...

Priest Martin’s healing spell flickered continuously by the side. After about 15ml was extracted, the patient’s eyes suddenly moved very slightly.

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