Sports Medicine Master System

"This is my surgical plan. Based on the patient’s condition, I used a medial approach to the right knee joint. The incision was made between the vastus medialis and the sartorius muscle, taking care to avoid the medial collateral ligament, the saphenous nerve, and the femoral artery."

Chen Yu didn’t give the audience much time to think, immediately beginning to explain the surgical plan.

After finishing a sentence, Chen Yu paused intentionally and looked at the young doctor who was serving as the translator.

The man was staring blankly at the screen. He only snapped out of it when Chen Yu asked if there was a problem and hastily began to translate.

But as soon as he finished translating, a doctor below raised his hand.

"Please, go ahead," Chen Yu said, looking at him.

The doctor hesitated for a moment before asking in English, "Dr. Chen, I’d like to ask, did this patient regain function in his knee after the surgery?"

Chen Yu nodded. "Of course. After the surgery and nearly six months of rehabilitation, he successfully returned to the field."

"The field?"

The doctor who asked the question craned his neck, staring for a good five seconds before silently nodding to indicate he had no more questions.

Once Chen Yu turned back to continue explaining the surgical plan, the doctor looked at the others, his expression a mixture of confusion and inquiry.

With an injury like that, in our country, you’d just apply for a disability certificate. Even if you could manage to perform surgery, the patient would probably need a cane for the rest of his life.

So when he thought of being "discharged," he imagined limited function, barely able to care for oneself. Who would have thought it meant returning to the competitive field?

’Injured this badly and he still went back to compete? What kind of competition, the Paralympics?’

Yao Songping was also there. Seeing everyone’s silent, varied expressions, he leaned over and whispered to Zhao Hengsheng, "Dean Zhao, is the case Dr. Chen is presenting very difficult?"

"Difficult?"

Zhao Hengsheng looked up at Chen Yu, who was now explaining how the meniscus donor was matched. He furrowed his brow in thought for a moment before saying, "It’s not that it’s difficult, but rather that it’s unnecessary."

Yao Songping was taken aback and asked what he meant.

Zhao Hengsheng said, "What I mean is, if someone were injured this badly, there would be no point in operating. Conservative treatment, using a cane, would be a perfectly fine choice."

’How much would a surgery like that even cost?’

’Surgeries abroad are supposed to be very expensive, right?’

’And the post-op rehab must be so painful. To endure all that suffering for a result that won’t be great... it’s really better to just stick with conservative treatment and a cane.’

Yao Songping’s mouth fell open. He understood Zhao Hengsheng’s subtext: a case like this was considered not worth treating in their country.

Not only was it difficult to treat, but it couldn’t be fully cured.

"Who is this?"

Yao Songping knew many world-class athletes sought out Chen Yu for treatment. Since Chen Yu mentioned returning to the field, it was highly likely the patient was one of those athletes.

The next moment, when a photo of the pre-operative incision site on the patient’s knee appeared on the screen, something clicked in Yao Songping’s mind. He recognized it.

It was an extremely long scar, grotesque, like a centipede.

Yao Songping couldn’t help but shudder. ’Holy shit, that’s Baggio!’

In the world of domestic soccer, Baggio was definitely one of the most famous stars, with countless fans.

Yao Songping was a casual soccer fan and was quite familiar with Baggio. He had once seen a comparison photo in *Sports Weekly* of Baggio’s right and left legs. One leg was thick, the other thin, and then there was that horrifying scar.

Yao Songping knew Baggio was plagued by injuries, but only today did he realize how severe they were—so severe that top domestic doctors like Zhao Hengsheng thought he might as well just use a cane.

But the man had kept playing, and after receiving Chen Yu’s treatment, he had made a comeback and returned to the field.

’He’s a fucking god!’

This was a very complex surgery, and Chen Yu tried to explain it in as much detail as possible.

Although Baggio’s healthy return to the field was inseparable from the system’s effect, the surgery still had to be performed by a person. It wasn’t as simple as cutting open flesh and stitching it up. Designing the surgical plan and figuring out how to complete the sutures within a narrow joint cavity was no easy feat.

It could be said that even without the therapeutic effects of the system, the surgical plan Chen Yu designed with the aid of the Eye of All-Seeing, and his specific operating techniques, were among the best in the world.

Therefore, these things were very much worth sharing and discussing.

Sure enough, when Chen Yu began describing the specific surgical process and even played a video of the operation, all the doctors in attendance involuntarily sat up straighter.

Zhao Hengsheng propped his chin on his hand, his eyes glued to the screen.

At times he looked lost, at others his eyebrows would shoot up, a look of shock in his eyes.

After more than twenty minutes, Chen Yu paused.

"That’s the surgical process. If any of you have questions, you can ask them now."

The moment he finished speaking, every doctor in the conference room, except for Zhao Hengsheng, raised their right hand.

Chen Yu nodded and called on a doctor nearby.

Zhao Hengsheng remained seated, but he couldn’t help muttering, "The gap is just..."

Yao Songping, sitting next to him, heard and nodded in deep agreement. "Definitely. I feel like we’re at least ten years behind them."

For someone with an injury like Baggio’s to be able to continue playing on the field was incredible in itself, a testament to the high level of medical care in Europe.

But then Chen Yu came along and managed to get Baggio back on the field in healthy condition. That elevated the standard of medical care to an entirely new level.

Compared to their domestic standards, a ten-year gap was no exaggeration.

"Ten years? I’m afraid it’s more than that." Zhao Hengsheng shook his head and pointed at the screen. "I dare say that even twenty years from now, there won’t be many doctors or hospitals in our country who would dare to perform this kind of surgery and still guarantee the patient regains function in their knee."

Yao Songping was stunned. Regardless of whether Zhao Hengsheng was exaggerating, it at least demonstrated the sheer height of Chen Yu’s medical skill.

"He is one of the world’s top orthopedic experts, after all."

Zhao Hengsheng nodded in agreement. "To be at this level in his early thirties... it’s unbelievable."

’A doctor in his early thirties back home is probably still wrestling with appendectomies.’

Onstage, Chen Yu answered the crowd’s questions as best he could. As for questions about why the patient was able to recover post-surgery, he could only attribute it to the post-operative rehabilitation.

As for why *they* might have performed it and not gotten good results, Chen Yu could only say that there were individual differences between patients.

After answering all the questions, Chen Yu switched to the next case on his computer.

"Besides knee joint injuries, I’d also like to present a case on the suture treatment of the annulus fibrosus for a herniated disc."

Disc herniation is one of the most common orthopedic diseases and a worldwide medical challenge. The disposable suturing device that Chen Yu designed with the Johnson & Johnson labs was a remarkable medical invention.

The moment Chen Yu finished speaking, the young doctor acting as translator let out an involuntary gasp. "The annulus fibrosus can be sutured?"

’This is the annulus fibrosus we’re talking about.’

The doctors below who understood English had already read the slide.

"Suturing the annulus fibrosus? For real?"

"Is it even useful to suture that area? Won’t it just herniate again?"

The doctors exchanged glances.

Zhao Hengsheng’s brow furrowed immediately, his eyes locked on the content on the screen.

On the screen, there was also a 3D animated demonstration video of the disposable suturing device. Johnson & Johnson had made it, and Chen Yu was using it directly.

"This thing..."

Zhao Hengsheng muttered to himself, his expression shifting repeatedly.

Currently in their country, the main treatment for herniated discs was still conservative. Surgery to remove the protruding nucleus pulposus was only chosen when there was severe nerve compression.

But such a surgery was very difficult and highly invasive. Few hospitals in the country dared to perform it.

Zhao Hengsheng kept up with medical journals, so he knew that in ’98, the United States had invented spinal endoscopy technology, which allowed for minimally invasive removal of the herniated nucleus.

Some people in their country were also researching it, and he’d heard that some hospitals were already starting to perform it.

Previously, Zhao Hengsheng had even entertained the idea of introducing this type of surgery at his hospital.

After all, there were many patients with herniated discs, and this was a cutting-edge procedure.

But it was so difficult.

First, it required specialized endoscopic equipment, which couldn’t be bought domestically.

And a C-arm machine. That thing was only invented in the eighties, and even now, not many hospitals in the country had one.

Second, even if they bought all the equipment, nobody knew how to perform the surgery.

Watching the surgical video of Chen Yu using the disposable suturing device, looking at the monitor, and completing the puncture, lift, and suture all within a millimeter’s precision, Zhao Hengsheng felt his scalp tingle.

’Those hands were unbelievably steady.’

A moment later, Chen Yu stopped and asked the audience if they had any questions.

Unlike before, this time, not a single person raised their hand.

The seated doctors looked left and right, exchanging glances, constantly trying to nudge each other with their eyes, signaling that someone should ask a question.

But the response they all got back was, ’Why don’t you ask?’

As the head of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Zhou Chengyang had treated his fair share of herniated disc patients. The whole reason he learned the Small Needle Knife technique was to treat lumbar herniations.

He pursed his lips, wanting to raise his hand to ask a question, but he lowered it again when it was only halfway up.

’What would I even ask?’

Zhou Chengyang had absolutely no experience with this type of surgery. Asking would be pointless; he wouldn’t even know where to begin.

With a soft sigh, Zhou Chengyang completely gave up the idea of asking a question.

"Does no one have any questions?" Chen Yu asked again.

’Such a great case, and a truly world-class, cutting-edge surgery.’

The crowd remained silent.

Zhao Hengsheng sighed, stood up, and began to clap.

’If you don’t understand it, you might as well just applaud.’

Instantly, thunderous applause filled the room.

「Outside the administration building.」

Zhao Hengsheng and his group watched the car drive away, a variety of expressions on their faces.

"What a shame. He’s leaving tomorrow. It would have been great if he could have stayed for a couple more days," one of the vice deans said regretfully.

Zhao Hengsheng nodded in full agreement. The hasty two-hour exchange had been far too short.

Just then, a middle-aged man behind them gave a wry smile. "I don’t know, I feel like this kind of exchange isn’t very useful. We can’t use any of the surgical techniques he performs."

Many of the people around him nodded in agreement.

It was a skill for slaying dragons; they couldn’t use it. It was like the exchange had been for nothing.

Zhao Hengsheng let out a long sigh. ’The gap is just too wide.’

Meanwhile, Chen Yu, who was leaving in the car, had a similar thought. ’The gains from this exchange were limited.’

’The Floating Needle and Small Needle Knife techniques were somewhat interesting.’

’But that was about it.’

These two Acupuncture methods still carried risks, especially the Small Needle Knife.

In fact, back at the hospital, Chen Yu had wanted to mention the problems with the Small Needle Knife as a word of caution.

The risks were too high. Without a sufficient foundation in human anatomy and extensive clinical experience, using it rashly would definitely do more harm than good.

But after thinking it over, he decided against it.

’Since they were already offering this treatment, they must have done a thorough evaluation. An inexperienced doctor wouldn’t dare use it rashly.’