Trauma Center : Golden Hour - Chapter 47

“Huh.”

Jaewon alternated his gaze between the heart and Kang-hyuk, his expression one of sheer disbelief.

The glove still clung to the heart, emitting a low ‘voong voong’ sound as it pulsed.

Made from an exceptionally tough and resilient rubber material, the glove showed no signs of bursting.

“Blood pressure is still stable, right?”

Kang-hyuk didn’t so much as react to Jaewon’s admiration, keeping his gaze fixed on the anesthesiologist.

The anesthesiologist carefully monitored not only the manually measured [sphygmomanometer] but also the blood pressure readings from the [A-line monitoring].
(T/N: Sphygmomanometer is a medical device used to measure blood pressure, typically consisting of an inflatable cuff, a gauge, and a stethoscope or sensor.)
(T/N: Also known as Arterial line monitoring, it is a direct method of measuring blood pressure in real-time, allowing continuous tracking of fluctuations.)

In a situation like this, the A-line was far more reliable than manual measurement.

Because it measured directly from the artery.

“Yes… It’s stable.”

After a few seconds of silence, the anesthesiologist finally nodded, seemingly reassured.

“Good. We’ve bought some time… Anus, what are you doing? Hurry up and assist.”

“Oh, yes. I just… I never imagined you’d do it like this….”

“What, using a glove?”

“Yeah.”

Wasn’t it hard enough to keep up with all the officially approved medical devices in surgery?

Just like any other field, medicine was constantly evolving with new technologies.

And yet, a glove?

Jaewon found it utterly absurd.

Kang-hyuk clicked his tongue at Jaewon’s reaction.

“Hey, study a bit more. Study.”

“Huh? Something like this is… in books?”

“Books? Books are for students. You still study from textbooks?”

“Ah….”

Jaewon recalled the textbooks neatly stacked on his bookshelf and lowered his head.

Come to think of it, Kang-hyuk didn’t even glance at textbooks anymore.

His desk was covered in research papers.

Not just major journals but also reports from places Jaewon had never even heard of.

Kang-hyuk read through multiple papers every day, calling it his hobby.

“There was a report on the U.S. military using this method to treat cardiac rupture. It was published two years ago as a case report. I’ll find it for you later—read it.”

“Oh… Okay.”

Jaewon nodded, realizing, ‘So this was something the U.S. military had reported.’

Now that he thought about it, there really wasn’t a better tool than a surgical glove to temporarily compress a ruptured heart.

Surgical gloves were sterile by default.

They were the most frequently used item that directly contacted surgical sites.

There was no risk of infection from direct contact with tissue.

‘Besides, they’re incredibly tough…’

What if a surgical glove tore mid-surgery?

That would mean the dirtiest part of the human body—hands— would be exposed.

No matter how much they were scrubbed with Betadine and soap, some bacteria would inevitably remain.

To prevent such critical situations, surgical gloves were designed to be as resilient as possible.

Voong, voong.

And now, that same resilience was allowing it to withstand the immense pressure of the heart.

‘Professor Baek really is…’

Jaewon, looking completely dazed, stared at Kang-hyuk.

To place it so precisely, right at the moment of rupture…

The word monster was the only fitting description.

“Scalpel.”

While Jaewon was lost in thought, Kang-hyuk already had the scalpel in hand.

“Anus, focus. Even I can’t do this alone.”

“Oh, yes.”

“Don’t get too comfortable just because the glove is holding. We have ten minutes, tops.”

“Ten minutes….”

“In that time, we reconstruct the heart.”

“Y-yes.”

Rebuilding a heart in ten minutes?

That was just a different way of saying impossible.

Now, Jaewon truly understood why traumatic cardiac rupture had a 100% fatality rate.

But if the lead surgeon hadn’t given up yet, it was absurd for the assistant to lose hope first.

Determined, Jaewon picked up the forceps handed to him by the assisting nurse and gripped the area Kang-hyuk indicated.

It felt softer than he had expected.

And Kang-hyuk noticed immediately.

“Not too hard. The inside is already completely torn apart.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Pull it back a little. Gently.”

“Understood.”

Jaewon carefully retracted the cardiac muscle as instructed.

As the muscle shifted slightly backward, an almost imperceptible gap formed between the muscle fibers.

Kang-hyuk didn’t miss his chance and slid the scalpel into the opening.

Ziiik.

Of course, this was not a sight anyone in the OR was accustomed to.

A scalpel inside the heart?

And cutting it directly like that?

If it had been anyone but Kang-hyuk holding the blade, someone would have immediately cursed him out.

Even Kang-hyuk seemed to understand Jaewon’s disbelief.

He spoke up as he continued his incision.

“Remember the ultrasound from earlier?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. More or less….”

“Are you senile? ‘More or less’? You should remember it exactly.”

“But you did it so fast….”

“Fast? I slowed down for you.”

“Oh.”

Jaewon blinked, realizing that was slow.

Kang-hyuk’s probe had moved so fast it was barely visible.

But considering he was still holding a scalpel, Jaewon didn’t dare argue.

He could stab him, after all.

“Anyway. If you remember, the left ventricle’s inside is a complete mess. Especially here.”

With his right hand, Kang-hyuk maneuvered the scalpel while his left ring finger pointed at the glove-covered section.

Voong, voong.

Blood still gushed from the ruptured heart.

The glove helped redirect it back inside, but only barely.

“Yes.”

“The tissue there is too damaged for a simple suture. You get that, right?”

“Oh… Yeah, of course.”

Jaewon was well aware of what happened to tissue after a blunt-force trauma.

After all, abdominal injuries were among the most common types of trauma.

‘Even a simple suture wouldn’t hold….’

The tissue couldn’t withstand the tension of the needle and would snap apart with the slightest force.

In other words, attempting to suture the wound on the heart as it was would only worsen the existing damage.

“That’s why you thinly slice the cardiac muscle like this before pulling it over.”

At some point, Kang-hyuk had set the scalpel down and picked up the forceps.

Using them, he grasped the thin section of cardiac muscle that had been created by the slanted incision.

“Like this.”

Then, he pulled it toward the rupture site, which was still covered by the piece of glove.

As if by magic, the muscle he maneuvered completely sealed over the rupture.

“Oh.”

“That’s the whole reason I made the incision, so wipe that dumb look off your face. Especially you, gangster.”

“Ah.”

Jang-mi, who had been supporting Yoo-rim, had somehow ended up inching closer to the operating table. She widened her eyes in surprise.

She had been fully focused on the surgery, so how did he even notice her approaching?

No matter how many times she saw it, Kang-hyuk’s perceptiveness was uncanny.

As Jang-mi shook her head in disbelief, Jaewon spoke up, his expression full of doubt.

“But… the glove is still in there. How do you remove it and suture the muscle?”

That was a valid point.

If the glove remained between the muscle layers, they wouldn’t adhere to each other.

Even though the glove was sterile, it was still a foreign object.

It might be fine for a short period.

But over time, it would cause severe complications.

Jaewon felt satisfied with himself for raising the question.

It was, without a doubt, an insightful observation.

Tsk.

But Kang-hyuk clicked his tongue at him.

“Why? What did I do wrong?”

“How do you remove it and suture? The moment you take it off, blood will shoot up like a fountain. What’s the point of carrying that thing on your shoulders if you don’t use it?”

“Huh? Then how… Oh, are we switching to ECMO?”

“ECMO? Hey, come here. Let’s just remove your head altogether.”

“Ack! Please, spare me!”

“You hopeless idiot….”

Kang-hyuk shook his head, repeating ECMO? Really? under his breath.

Realistically, ECMO or any extracorporeal circulation device would be standard in a case like this.
(T/N: ECMO, or Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, is a life-support technique that temporarily replaces heart and lung function.)

But setting it up required time.

At least thirty minutes.

More than enough time for the patient Han Ji-young to be long dead.

From the start, it was never a viable option.

“Prepare an endoscope.”

After berating Jaewon a few more times, Kang-hyuk turned to Jang-mi.

She had been staring blankly at the pulsating rupture, still in shock, but quickly snapped back to reality.

“Huh? Oh, yes. But… which endoscope…?”

“Get the ENT set. The one for nasal surgery. You know what I mean?”

“Ah… Yes. But that’s in the main building.”

Of course, it was.

There was no reason for the Severe Trauma Center to stock an ENT endoscope.

Why would they?

Even ENT specialists only used it to avoid making external incisions.

It was absurd to expect a trauma surgery team to have such a tool on hand.

So, Kang-hyuk didn’t get angry—he just pushed for speed.

“Then run and get it. You can make it in five minutes, right?”

“Five minutes?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s impossible—”

“If I were you, I’d be running instead of arguing.”

“Ah.”

Jang-mi finally realized that no matter what she said, it wouldn’t change the fact that she had to retrieve the endoscope.

So, she took off at full speed.

Kang-hyuk shouted after her as she sprinted out.

“Gangster! Five minutes!”

Jang-mi didn’t even have time to reply.

Kang-hyuk watched her run for a second before turning back to the surgical field.

Jaewon was still holding the thinned cardiac muscle in place.

“Good. Keep it exactly like that.”

“Yes.”

“Alright, let’s suture.”

“Yes… But what exactly are you planning to do…?”

Jaewon still couldn’t understand why Kang-hyuk was suturing before removing the glove.

“Shut up and stay put. I’ll handle it.”

“Ah, yes….”

Jaewon had no choice but to keep his mouth shut under Kang-hyuk’s command.

With the operating room now silent again, Kang-hyuk began working with the suturing instruments.

Thunk.

As always, his suturing was perfect.

The thinly sliced muscle was pulled tightly, sealing the rupture completely.

‘If I had opened her up just five minutes earlier, I could have done this from the start….’

If he’d had that five extra minutes, there would have been no need for the glove.

‘Damn it.’

Kang-hyuk shook his head in frustration.

Sometimes, missing just five minutes could multiply the difficulty of a surgery.

Or worse.

It could cost a life.

Rip.

At that moment, a tearing sound filled the room.

Even the incredibly tough glove had finally reached its limit.

“Oh, oh!”

Jaewon panicked and let out an involuntary yell.

Kang-hyuk, however, casually tapped Jaewon’s hand with the handle of his forceps.

His voice was as calm as ever.

“Stop freaking out. Just press it down lightly. It hasn’t burst yet.”

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