Free Web NovelChapter 2256: Chapter 2256: Taking Responsibility
Doctor Peng’s concern surged again.
The patient’s family will definitely criticize why the prenatal screening couldn’t detect this disease.
Esophageal atresia is a congenital digestive tract malformation, and a four-dimensional ultrasound during the mid to late pregnancy can screen out some patients.
It’s not 100% detectable. On one hand, it could be due to the machine. If the machine isn’t of the most advanced standard, the results are naturally limited.
On the other hand, it’s human factors. Not all ultrasonographers have top-notch skills. Even in a top-tier hospital, there are young doctors, and their skill level is somewhat inferior to that of older doctors.
Other factors often affecting the doctor’s operations and judgments are always present. The ultrasound time for pregnant women is the longest, and it’s common for a prenatal ultrasound to take over half an hour per patient. People waiting in line behind will be grumbling, eager for the doctor to move faster. Doctors might insist on principles to avoid omissions, but they cannot avoid encountering special situations.
If the child’s illness belongs to a rare subtype of this disease, the doctor is highly likely not to detect it.
Hence, Doctor Wang’s rebuttal to Doctor Peng: "You’re talking about the common type. This child could have the hardest to distinguish, subtype V. Otherwise, why did we spend so much time just now suspecting it?"
Esophageal atresia is divided into five subtypes, the first four subtypes I to IV, all involve the esophageal end closing itself. Only type V is connected to the gastric tube, with a fistula present between the esophagus and the trachea. Anatomically, if you slice it, you can see two vertical bars, the trachea and esophagus, plus a horizontal fistula bar, forming a vivid H shape, also known as type H.
In the other subtypes, the esophagus is closed, and when feeding milk, it would definitely not go down, causing immediate choking. Type V is different, as the digestive tract is open, making the child’s symptoms more concealed.
The same principle applies to examination. For other types, just inserting a gastric tube, if it doesn’t go halfway, it’s definitely an esophageal interruption. This is a quick way to differential diagnosis of esophageal atresia. Not so for type V, where no abnormality can be detected from the gastric tube insertion.
Doctor Peng wasn’t unaware of this subtype, just complaining about being unlucky to encounter a special case. Now it’s a headache to explain all this to the patient’s family when going out.
"Teacher, let me go out and talk." Xie Wanying volunteered. Initially, she had requested the teacher’s help to transfer Little Sister Luo to the hospital for treatment, so she should take responsibility for communicating with the patient’s family.
This is the trait that the teachers most appreciated in Student Xie, her sense of responsibility.
Doctor Peng sighed and told her, "I’ll go with you."
The teacher would never let the student face the responsibility alone.
Doctor Wang had to quickly arrange for examinations to confirm the diagnosis for the child. Fortunately, it was discovered in time, and they had not fed milk or water, preventing further lung infection. The doctor can take all possible measures to block the progression of the disease, avoiding the child from developing into life-threatening conditions like suffocation.
Before walking to the neonatal department’s entrance with Teacher Peng, Teacher Peng privately disclosed to Xie Wanying, "If it really is this disease, the child will probably need to be transferred to another hospital."
Beidou Third Hospital doesn’t have a separate pediatric surgery. This condition cannot be treated by internal medicine; surgery is needed, and the patient has to be admitted to pediatric surgery.
Doctor Peng had long abandoned hope on the other departments of his hospital matching their excellent obstetrics department.
