A Hospital in Another World?-Chapter 499: Mage Tricks, A Surgeon’s Aid

To operate or not to operate, that is a question worth considering.

Not operating means the child will definitely die; operating gives the child a 50% chance of survival, albeit after enduring significant pain, and even if successful, a lengthy and difficult recovery awaits…

To operate?

Or not?

The elder looked at Garrett, then at the child on the table, frowning in deep thought. The child’s mother, whom he had watched grow up and treated like his own granddaughter, had married into the family. She was virtuous and harmonious, liked by everyone in the family.

She had already lost two sons, and having just given birth to a third, now to tell her the child might be abandoned was something she might not withstand; yet to offer her a glimmer of hope, only to potentially face the pain of loss again…

Moreover, there wasn’t much time left to decide. Up to now, the child hadn’t had a sip of milk or water, growing weaker by the moment. Clearly, dragging this out would only sever the child’s chance at life.

He sighed deeply and looked at Garrett again. His gaze swept over him, then suddenly he paused.

Garrett sat upright at the table, his eyes half-open, half-closed. His fingertips lightly touching each other, with an 【Ethereal Creature】 outlining the internal muscles and organs of a human body, constantly changing.

Sometimes expanding, sometimes closing, and sometimes dispersing like bubbles, then an infant’s lower body reappeared...

“What are you doing?”

“Simulating the surgery.”

Garrett, without opening his eyes, replied softly. He could explain the surgery in detail, but wouldn’t be able to perform it:

“Surgical texts list three approaches; which should be chosen? Through the abdomen? Through the perineum? Or perhaps a posterior sagittal incision?”

What position should the infant be placed in, how long should the incision be, which layers of muscle should be pulled? How to locate the sphincter during the surgery, ensuring the rectum passes precisely through the gap in the sphincter?

Should electrolyte imbalance be corrected beforehand, is gastrointestinal decompression necessary to prevent vomiting?

How should the fistula be handled, the rectum wall is quite thick, how can it be made to pass through the narrow gap of the levator ani and sphincter complex? Should part of it be cut, and if so, how much?

Each question required integration of his understanding of anatomy, the development of infants, consulting on-site:

“Histology and Embryology”, “Pediatrics”, “Surgery”, “Regional Anatomy”, “Systemic Anatomy”...

The quicker a plan is settled, the sooner the surgery can be done, and the lesser the injury to the child.

The elder remained silent. After a moment, he asked gravely:

“Isn’t it still undecided whether to perform it?”

“Whether to decide is your affair. — Making thorough preparations is my own.”

Garrett said softly, eyes still closed.

The next moment, his fingertips sprouted several thin, green vines.

With a sizzling sound, the vines poked a hole in the brocade on the table, swaying gently but resiliently beneath the fabric.

The elder’s eyebrows twitched.

He gazed deeply at Garrett, observing his calm and focused demeanor, the winding vines at his fingertips, and the ink-filled sketches scattered across the table: ṝÄΝO͍βЁᶊ

There was a time when he himself was a young knight, assigned to scout behind enemy lines, witnessing a small enemy troop slaughtering a village.

If he had charged out, he might have destroyed the enemy but also could have jeopardized the mission; if he hadn’t, the scene before him was unbearable...

Only the captain had the authority to order an attack. At that time, like Garrett now, he would silently ready his saddle, tighten the horse’s girth, and polish his weapons...

Whether to give the order was the captain’s decision. Making preparations was his own affair.

He took a deep breath in, then out. Then, pressing on the table, he leaned slightly towards Garrett:

“Master Nordmark, this child is in your hands!”

“Rest assured.” Garrett opened his eyes, meeting his gaze directly:

“I — cannot guarantee 100% success, but I will certainly do my best.”

The group moved to the main hall. Novak the Archmage cast a spell to protect the surgery area, isolating any dust that might fall from above;

The High Priest from the Temple of the Spring Goddess cast a soothing spell to ensure the infant felt no pain during the surgery;

The zealous bishop from the Temple of the God of War stayed close by, following Garrett’s instructions to position the infant prone, legs bent in a frog-like position, exposing the surgical area. A pillow was placed under the abdomen, readying for surgery;

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

While Novak the Archmage, after casting the surgery room spell, crouched next

to Garrett, starting to fiddle with animals...

“Uh... could you catch a frog for me?”

“A frog? In this season?” The elder did not intend to refuse, nor did he question what Garrett intended, he simply looked around:

“Can I bring a larger animal instead? Like a sheep? Or a pig?”

“Bring a sheep then…”

Garrett sighed. Alright, although the principle of animal testing is to use lower animals rather than higher ones, they were wealthy after all... and these sheep were meant to be eaten anyway...

The sheep was quickly brought over. Garrett watched as someone sheared the sheep, while instructing others to prepare zinc plates, copper plates, fashion a zinc-copper bow, and soak in saline...

“Your Excellency, the Archmage! Please, come over and help!”

Garrett personally made an incision in the sheep’s leg skin, separated the muscle bundles, and stimulated the muscles with the zinc-copper bow. Hmm, the effect wasn’t quite satisfactory, perhaps the current was too weak?

“Your Excellency, the Archmage, please create the smallest possible current on the muscle — just enough to cause contraction, please don’t injure it!”

“Alright, step aside, let me!”

With a crackle, a visible burn mark appeared on the exposed muscle of the sheep’s leg.

“Hey, be gentle!”

“Lighter!”

The Archmage, true to his title, accurately mastered the necessary electrical intensity after three attempts. Garrett, still not reassured, rolled up his trouser leg, inviting him to try on his own body —

“Are you a fool? You’re already a fifth-level mage, even without actively resisting, your magic resistance is higher than others!”

It’s as if I don’t get shocked by static electricity in winter... Garrett silently complained.

Eventually, the head of the household resolved the issue. Great rewards bring out great heroes; at his command, two maids rolled up their sleeves, allowing the Archmage to experiment.

With a crackle, the muscle twitched visibly, yet no substantial harm was caused. After two successful trials, Garrett breathed a sigh of relief, turned to change his clothes, and wash his hands:

“Alright, let’s start! — Brother Matthew, keep an eye on my movements, where the knife cuts, follow with a healing spell, don’t let the wound bleed!”

“Alright!”

Priest Matthew summoned a vine, inserted it into the infant’s mouth, reaching the stomach, serving as a gastrostomy tube to prevent vomiting and choking;

Garrett focused, holding his breath, holding the surgical knife in a pen-like grip — the infant’s skin was delicate, and the pen-like grip allowed for lighter, more flexible, and precise operations — made a central sagittal incision;

From the tip of the coccyx down to 1 cm behind the anal dimple. He made the incision, using two smallest retractors, one on each side, pulling apart. Garrett maintained the position of the retractors, while Priest Matthew took over with two vines, greatly reducing Garrett’s operational burden;

Then…

“Novak the Archmage! Please, as before, stimulate the muscle inside the incision with the smallest amount of current!”

The current crackled again. The infant’s buttock muscles immediately began to twitch, his eyes intently watching the incision, he raised his hand, and mage tricks flew out —

“This circular contraction direction! That’s right! This is the external anal sphincter!”

In the past, marking special muscles usually involved using an electric stimulator. Here, without an electric stimulator, they had to ask the Archmage to manually stimulate...

If the Archmage’s control was still inadequate, they would have to resort to the zinc-copper bow, or set up his hand-cranked generator, adjusting the current bit by bit.

However, more conveniently than in the past, there was no need for silk threads, or Merilin threads for marking. Zero-level magic tricks, instant dyeing, rich colors, non-damaging to tissues, easy to remove, truly a doctor’s good assistant!

Ah, when performing laparoscopic surgery, or similar surgeries, could also consider dyeing relevant tissues...

Garrett silently congratulated himself, sending out a few vines, beginning blunt dissection. To outsiders, they only saw his eyes slightly closed, thin vines like hair drilling into the muscle, barely moving for a long time. Only Garrett knew what he was doing:

Such a small area, the anal sphincter system, composed of four groups of muscles. Subcutaneous external sphincter, proximal levator ani, deep external sphincter, and a muscle complex composed of part of the puborectalis and deep fibers of the external anal sphincter.

In a normal infant, the rectum should pass through these systems straight to the anus; however, in infants with imperforate anus, the rectum is not fully developed, and the rectal-anal opening

is relatively small, requiring slow blunt dissection to expose the surgical field, leaving a gap for the rectum to pass through...

The tip of the vine emitted a faint light. The fine as hair vine, soft like a spider’s thread, yet capable of bursting with the force to flip stone slabs. Drilling, pushing, pulling, cutting...

Just separating a 1 cm diameter gap had Garrett sweating profusely.

He closed his eyes, gasping for a while before carefully maneuvering the vine inside, starting to separate the rectum. In the past, this incision wouldn’t have been enough:

The blind end of the rectum was about 2 cm from the anus, and the rectum needed about 3~5 cm of separation for enough surgical field for operations. But Garrett didn’t need to cut as much:

With the Spirit of the Pact providing vision, and vines for operation, he didn’t need to cut more skin, muscle, or even bone, able to stably perform the separation through the dark narrow incision.

This vision, much more detailed and convenient than operating under X-ray guidance. And moreover, no need to eat threads, no need to wear a heavy lead suit!

Perfect!

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