The two put on isolation gowns, masks and hats, and entered the ICU one after another.
"Director, you are here."
Director Cui nodded and looked at the patients on the hospital bed. They all had tubes in their tracheas and were connected to ventilators to assist breathing. He knew that the situation had not improved.
He frowned and asked, "What's the latest situation?"
"The patient in bed 1 is 52 years old. The blood routine just done in the afternoon showed that the white blood cell, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin indicators did not drop significantly, and the lung CT showed no signs of improvement. He still has a fever of 39 degrees, and his ability to cough up sputum is poor. , causing sputum to accumulate in the lungs. Half an hour ago, about 20 ml of yellow and thick sputum was just sucked out."
"Patient 65 in bed 2 is in a similar situation. The relevant inflammatory indicators are still maintained at a high level, showing a relatively serious lung infection. However, his health is a little worse, he has developed malnutrition, and his condition is more difficult to control."
Director Cui looked at Xue Kun, smiled wryly, spread his hands, and said, "This is the patient's situation. It seems quite pessimistic."
Xue Kun carefully observed the two patients. They were all emaciated under the torture of the disease. They were so thin that it made people feel unbearable at first sight.
He put the box on a shelf aside and urged, "Since it's so serious, take medicine as soon as possible."
Director Cui called the nurse, gave instructions, and said with a smile: "Okay, let's start with Patient No. 1."
"He has chronic lung diseases. Due to long-term smoking, he has a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for more than ten years, and has become resistant to many antibiotics. Now his lungs are whiter than his face on CT scan, and the body cannot excrete carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide retention occurred, so I was unconscious most of the day and had to rely on instruments to do anything."
As he spoke, he took out a syringe from the cooler.
This syringe is specially used for chest injection, so there is no needle. The light green drug solution inside is about 10ml, which is not too much.
Because humans and animals have two layers of pleura, the inner layer wraps the lungs, and the inner and outer layers of pleura form the pleural cavity and protect the chest cavity.
In cases of severe lung infection, effusion will form in the pleural cavity. During pleural injection, it is usually only necessary to puncture the outer pleura to achieve the purpose of injecting drugs. If the inner pleura is punctured, pneumothorax is likely to occur. .
At this time, the nurse has prepared instruments, including sterile thoracentesis kits, sterile gloves, disinfection supplies, anesthetic drugs, tape, etc., then lifted the patient's clothes and carefully cleaned the entire chest area.
Another attending doctor used a portable color ultrasound to locate and select the puncture point on the chest.
Director Cui looked at the color Doppler ultrasound image and nodded: "Fortunately, the pleural effusion is not too much, so we can directly inject drugs into the chest cavity. Otherwise, the pleural effusion will have to be drained out in stages."
"The patient is currently in a coma, and it seems that there is no need for narcotics."
He carefully put on gloves and opened the sterile thoracentesis bag. Inside was a thick, sharp needle covered with two rubber catheters. Then, under the guidance of color ultrasound, he carefully inserted the needle diagonally into the chest cavity.
Almost instantly, a wisp of pleural effusion slowly flowed out from the double lumen cava catheter.
However, the patient's pleural effusion was not large, and it stopped flowing out after two or three seconds.
Director Cui put the central venous catheter on the syringe and slowly injected the medicine inside.
After pushing in 3 ml of medicine, he aspirated the pleural effusion again, then pushed in again, pulled back, and pushed in again. This was repeated 2-3 times, and all the remaining medicine in the catheter was injected into the patient's chest cavity.
Throughout the whole process, Director Cui's hand was always steady without any shaking.
The patient was also in a coma without any shaking in his body.
After the drug was injected, Director Cui removed the needle and catheter and walked to bed No. 2.
Color Doppler ultrasound positioning, disinfection, puncture, drainage of pleural effusion, injection of drugs, and repeated operations.
Finally, the intrathoracic injection of medication for the two patients was completed.
After Director Cui finished all this, he told the nurse: "Within 2 hours, change the patient's position at least every half hour so that the medicine can be evenly distributed in the chest cavity."
The nurse nodded in agreement and left with the used instruments for disinfection and disposal.
The attending doctor next to him put away the portable color ultrasound and asked with a smile: "Is this the legendary nano pill? It seems to be similar to ordinary drugs. I can't see any difference."
Xue Kun watched the whole process and was amazed by Director Cui's crisp and neat workmanship.
At this moment, a doctor heard a question and said quickly: "There is still something different. I don't know if you have noticed it. Ordinary drug solutions are white, while nano pills are green."
"That's because the nanopill is made from a green algae combined with nanoparticles, and if you look closely under a microscope, you can see what it really looks like."
Director Cui suddenly interrupted: "Is this drug very irritating to the patient? Will it cause chest pain?"
Xue Kun spread his hands and said helplessly: "This is the first time it has been used on patients with severe lung infection, so we have to observe the patient's performance to know. I can only say that if it is used on ordinary people, the irritation is very low. Yes, it won’t cause pain, but if the patient feels pain, it’s hard to tell.”
Director Cui nodded thoughtfully: "Okay, let's see the specific performance of these two patients."
Xue Kun added: "The nanoparticles are injected directly into the chest and will soon enter the lung fluid. The antibiotics will be gradually released after about 10 minutes. Teicoplanin is also distributed very quickly and will soon reach the target in the lungs." Very high concentration.”
"Generally speaking, after half an hour, the antibiotics should be working."
"Observe for 24 hours first to see if the patient's condition has improved. At the same time tomorrow, I will send a second batch of nano-pills and continue to take the medicine until the patient's inflammation indicators return to normal."
"Okay, I will ask the nurse to pay close attention to the patient's condition." Director Cui said as he walked out the door: "That's pretty much it for today."
"By the way, Dr. Xue, it's already half past seven, which is exactly the time for dinner. Why don't we go have a casual meal together?"
Xue Kun shook his head: "It's okay. I should get off work at this time. I can just go back and eat."
Director Cui immediately grabbed him and said with a smile on his face: "It's because of our hospital's affairs that you haven't had a meal so late. Why don't we have a meal together? How can I be embarrassed? We can just hang out at the back door." Let’s have some home-cooked food in the little restaurant.”
Xue Kun thought for a while, but couldn't insist, so he went to dinner with the two of them.
Director Cui randomly found a restaurant he usually went to, ordered a table of dishes, and said with a smile: "I'm a little older than you, so I'll call you Xiao Xue. How long have you been in Sanqing? Which company did you work in before? ah?"
"I only came to Sanqing last year. In fact, I was working in a scientific research institution in a university. Then I came here when I saw the Nano Laboratory was established and was recruiting people."
Xue Kun sat under the air conditioner, blowing warm air and drinking hot tea. The fatigue of the day suddenly disappeared, and his whole body was resurrected with full blood.
Director Cui was a little surprised: "Which university key laboratory? Logically speaking, few people who stay in universities are willing to switch to companies, and they are somewhat unaccustomed to it."
Xue Kun chuckled and said: "If it were another company, it might be like this, but Sanqing is different. Its working atmosphere is more scientific and research-oriented. It is not so eager for quick success and quick profit, but more pure. I am more comfortable with it."
"I have a Ph.D. in physics from Huaqing. After graduation, I worked as a postdoc at the National Nanoscience Center. Because I had a cooperative project with the Pangu Research Institute in Sanqing, I was sent to do some research on nanomaterials."
"Overall, I feel quite comfortable with it, so after my postdoc, when Sanqing had the opportunity, I didn't go back to the Nano Center, but went directly to the Nano Laboratory."
At this point, he suddenly let out a long sigh: "In fact, in domestic academia, it is very difficult for ordinary people to make some achievements. There are great constraints in all aspects, and funding is also a problem. It is not as comfortable as enterprises. Besides, three Qing Dynasty’s achievements over the years are obvious to all, and it’s not that difficult to achieve something.”
Director Cui immediately understood. He estimated that Xue Kun was a marginalized person in the original laboratory and was not taken seriously, so he was sent to Sanqing to work on the cooperation project.
He smiled knowingly: "It seems that where there are many people, there are rivers and lakes. It is not easy to get ahead in the academic circle. It is the right choice for you to come to Sanqing. And in terms of salary, Sanqing, I’ve always been generous, and if I make this nano-pill, I’ll probably get a lot of bonuses.”
"Isn't it a matter of funding to conduct scientific research? Sanqing is not short of money, so scientific research results will inevitably come out in a flash, not much better than elsewhere."
Xue Kun nodded in agreement: "Indeed, I didn't expect that when I first came to the Nano Laboratory, I would encounter the big project of nano pills. After it was made, even our own people didn't believe it. Haha, after the clinical trial is successful, , this news will definitely shock the entire academic circle.”
Although he didn't say it clearly, he couldn't hide the feeling of elation in his expression, as if the anger that had been suppressed for many years turned into joy from his brows after he succeeded.
Director Cui burst out laughing: "In that case, I would like to congratulate you in advance."
The attending doctor next to him also smiled wisely and said: "Then it looks like I have to drink some beer to celebrate tonight."
Director Cui patted his thigh and said, "It's necessary, boss, three bottles of beer."
After saying that, he smiled at Xue Kun and explained: "After eating, I have to go back and keep an eye on the patient. When the patient's disease is completely cured, we can have a good meal. I will not be drunk by then."
While they were joking, the boss served beer and food, and the three of them immediately started to enjoy the meal.
After having enough wine and food, Director Cui picked his teeth and waved his hand: "Boss, pay the bill."
As soon as he finished speaking, the phone on the table vibrated crazily.
Director Cui grabbed the phone and was immediately shocked: "It's actually Nurse Li from the ICU. She doesn't know how to make trouble."
"Hey, what's going on? Is the patient okay?"
The nurse's surprised voice came over the phone: "Director, the high fevers of the patients in beds 1 and 2 are beginning to subside and their conditions are improving. This should be because the newly injected drugs have taken effect."
"What?" Director Cui stood up suddenly: "The fever went away so quickly?"
"Yes, the temperature has dropped to 37.8. Judging from this trend, the fever will be completely gone by tomorrow morning."
Director Cui was shocked for a moment and murmured to himself: "This is too fast, it only takes a while to eat."
As if he suddenly remembered something, he looked at the time. It was already 9 pm, exactly an hour and a half before the patient finished injecting the medicine.
"I've just finished eating here. I'll come to the ICU right away. You should keep an eye on it first, but don't let the patient's condition rebound."
Director Cui gave some hurried instructions and hung up the phone.
He walked to the counter with his cell phone in his pocket and quickly paid the bill before running back.
"Hurry up and leave. The patient's fever has gone down. I have to rush back immediately to see if I can feel at ease." Director Cui said with a happy face.
The expression on Xue Kun's face remained calm, because he had seen the effect of nano pills before, and this time it was not unexpected.
The attending doctor was shocked and stood up: "Director, the patient's fever has subsided? Is this the effect of the nano pill? It's too fast. Logically speaking, Teicoplanin does not take effect so quickly."
Xue Kun explained: "Have you forgotten that the nanopills are injected directly into the chest and work directly at the lesion? Teicoplanin used to be intravenously dripped, and it often had to be distributed throughout the body to be effective. Naturally, it is not so fast."
"This also shows that the antibiotic regimen you chose with teicoplanin is very effective."
The attending physician patted his forehead and suddenly realized: "Yes, it seems that the effect of nano pills is indeed very good."
Director Cui was a little anxious at this moment: "Don't talk about this for now. If you have anything to say on the way, it would be better for us to go back to see the patient's condition directly."
"Xiao Xue, let's go back to the hospital first. You should go back and rest early."
Xue Kun said quickly: "Director Cui, since the patient's effect is so good, I must go and have a look. Let's go together."
The three of them hurried back to the hospital, put on isolation gowns and entered the ICU again.
The nurse saw them and immediately came over with surprise.
"Director, the patient's temperature has returned to normal."
Director Cui looked at the patient's vital parameters. All indicators were very stable. He nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right. You can do a blood routine on the patient and I'll see if the inflammation indicators have dropped."
The nurse looked embarrassed: "Director, it's so late, the people in the laboratory department have already got off work."
Director Cui waved his hand and said with a bit of irony: "Oh, please be smarter. There is a portable first aid kit in the emergency room. There is a portable biochemical analyzer in it. Can't you just use it to check the blood routine?"
"Okay, I'll go right away." The nurse suddenly understood and hurried to the emergency room.
Five minutes later, the nurse came back with a portable biochemistry analyzer.
Everyone worked together and performed routine blood tests on the two patients.
When the clicking sound continued and the test sheet was slowly spit out from the biochemical analyzer, Director Cui waved his hand and grabbed it.
"The percentage of white blood cells and neutrophils has decreased, and the C-reactive protein has also decreased. Although it still shows signs of inflammation, it is much lower than the previous parameters."
Director Cui glanced at it and cheered instantly.
"Thank God, the superbugs are finally under control."
(End of chapter)
