Sports Medicine Master System-Chapter 154 - 106: Evaluating Moning, Suturing the Annulus Fibrosus (2)

Chapter 154: Chapter 106: Evaluating Moning, Suturing the Annulus Fibrosus (2)

"And he’s only thirty-one this year, right in his prime!"

Last season, Moning was still averaging 21.7 points and 9.5 rebounds. He was one of the top centers in the entire league.

"I watched those games in New York last year. They were incredible." Jamie recalled the seven-game battle between the Heat and the Nicks from the previous year.

They had left a deep impression on him.

Across all seven games, the largest margin of victory was a mere eight points.

You can just imagine how intense those games were.

Not to mention, starting in ’97, the two teams met in the playoffs for four consecutive years. The rivalry ran deep.

Fights had broken out, and the Nicks had even pulled off the second eighth-seed upset in history.

Add to that the showdown between former Georgetown teammates Moning and Ewing, and the battle between the master, Riley, and his former apprentice, Little Van Gundy.

In short, it was packed with drama.

But with Ewing aging and Moning developing kidney disease, matchups like that would probably never happen again.

Chen Yu patted Jamie’s shoulder, changing the subject. "Jamie, have you ever considered getting a meniscus transplant for your knee?"

Jamie froze, not quite understanding what he meant.

As they walked back, Chen Yu explained, "I’m planning to start a research project on allogeneic meniscus transplants. Since you happen to be missing a meniscus, I was thinking of testing it on you."

Jamie looked at Chen Yu, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. ’He’s actually thinking of using me as a guinea pig.’

However, he didn’t refuse right away. After a moment of serious thought, he asked Chen Yu what the success rate might be.

"Chen, we’re both doctors. We should know how difficult an allogeneic meniscus transplant is."

Having had his own meniscus removed, of course Jamie had looked into it. He was all too aware of the surgery’s difficulty.

’But Chen Yu isn’t an ordinary doctor. Maybe he really could crack this problem.’

Chen Yu smiled. "I’m fairly confident."

’The system should help,’ he thought. ’The real challenge is finding a suitable meniscus.’

’Just shaping the meniscus won’t be enough.’

Jamie nodded. Since coming to the clinic, he had learned that Chen Yu had some unique skills in orthopedics. Still, he said, "Chen, you must know that meniscus transplants, as they exist now, are for ordinary people, not professional athletes."

This procedure isn’t anything new. People started performing it as far back as ten years ago.

But their patients were all ordinary people. After the transplant, the post-operative expectations weren’t high—as long as they could walk normally, it was considered a success.

Even with a certain degree of mismatch in the meniscus, it wasn’t a huge problem. Again, as long as the person could get around, it was fine.

But Chen Yu’s current research was clearly aimed at performing meniscus transplants for professional athletes.

Never mind the long recovery period; even the slightest mismatch would directly impact an athlete’s performance.

Then there was the resulting arthritis and joint instability. None of those were easy problems to solve.

In Jamie’s opinion, without the transplant, he could probably still manage to play. With it, he might be completely finished.

The risks were astronomical.

"I know." Chen Yu was even more aware of the risks than Jamie. "That’s why I need to do research and run trials."

Otherwise, he would have just done it already, and he wouldn’t need to use Jamie as a test subject.

Jamie sighed. "Let me think about it."

He was also afraid of a poor post-operative recovery, which would leave him worse off than he was now.

"Sure. Take your time. There’s no rush," Chen Yu said with a smile.

Jamie then asked suddenly, "So if I have this transplant surgery, does it count as a work-related injury?"

Recovery would take months. Never mind the expenses—what about his salary?

Chen Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Don’t worry, it will definitely count."

Olajuwon arrived in Phoenix as scheduled. The astronaut from NASA arrived at the same time.

Both of them had cartilage problems.

This time, Chen Yu would be performing minimally invasive surgery.

But he still had to grind for treatment effects.

That wasn’t a problem, as the clinic actually had a lot of appointments.

Chen Yu had already made a name for himself, and many patients sought him out specifically, hoping to schedule surgery with him.

So there was no shortage of surgeries.

He just didn’t have the time to perform them.

Since he had some free time over the next two days, he could grind through a few operations.

「In the operating room.」

Lexi was assisting. Her specialty was general surgery, so serving as first assistant was no problem.

The patient lay prone on the operating table. Lexi stared intently at the endoscopic monitor, then glanced at the C-arm’s display.

The nucleus pulposus forceps could be seen clearly, penetrating the skin and heading straight for the intervertebral disc.

"Careful," she couldn’t help but say.

Chen Yu was unfazed. His hand didn’t tremble in the slightest as the forceps entered the tear in the annulus fibrosus and tore away a piece of the herniated nucleus.

’In truth, the Eye of All-Seeing provides a clearer view than the endoscope.’

Piece by piece, the nucleus was torn away and removed.

Chen Yu then began trimming the edges of the damaged annulus fibrosus before taking out a new puncture suture device.

"Are you sure about this?" Lexi asked nervously.

Not only was the device disposable, but it was also an experimental model that Johnson & Johnson had modified according to Chen Yu’s specifications.

No one had ever used it before. This was the first time Chen Yu was using it since he received it, and Lexi was worried that his inexperience with the device could lead to problems.

After all, this was the lumbar spine. One slip of the hand, one damaged nerve, and the patient could be paralyzed from the waist down. That would be a major medical incident.

"Don’t worry."

Chen Yu said nothing more, his eyes fixed on the patient’s back as he silently activated a Silver Level Treatment Effect.

’I need to see what happens to the sutured annulus fibrosus when it’s aided by the system’s treatment effect.’

’Current techniques only allow for suturing the outer layer of the annulus fibrosus.’

’The annulus fibrosus has inner, middle, and outer layers.’

’A disc bulge, for instance, is when the inner layer has ruptured but the outer layer is still intact, containing the nucleus.’

’A herniation is when all layers have ruptured and the nucleus leaks out.’

’When you suture it, you can only stitch the outer layer, which is why the procedure has limited effectiveness.’

Under the view of the Eye of All-Seeing, the suture device penetrated the outer layer. With a slight pull, he drew it back out, hooking the suture thread. He then continued the process, puncturing the other side of the tear.

Its special design, much like a crochet hook, automatically formed a knot in the suture thread.

All that was left was to pull it tight and snip the excess thread. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Chen Yu completed the entire process with perfect stability.

Across from him, Lexi was so nervous she was holding her breath. Only when she saw the tear pulled taut did she give Chen Yu a slight nod and finally exhale in relief.

Chen Yu withdrew the suture device, his gaze locked on the suture site.

’The Silver Level Treatment Effect should be working.’

But unlike when he had repaired ligaments before, Chen Yu didn’t see any new capillaries sprouting within the annulus fibrosus.

’Is it not working?’

Chen Yu frowned to himself.

’Is it really not working, or is the treatment level not high enough? Does it need to be Diamond Level to have an effect?’

For the moment, Chen Yu couldn’t be sure of the reason.

Chen Yu decided to observe a while longer.

’After all, the surgery just ended. The body hasn’t even begun to recover yet.’

’The formation of scar tissue on the annulus fibrosus is a long process in itself, relying on permeation from the surrounding lymphatic system.’

Just as he finished up and was about to conclude the surgery, Chen Yu froze.

[Congratulations! You have developed a new surgical procedure and accumulated rich experience. You have obtained: Basic Level Intervertebral Disc Repair Technique.]

[Surgical effectiveness increased by 5%.]

’I actually got a technique! This is a fantastic surprise.’