"Doctor, can appendicitis always be treated with traditional Chinese medicine without surgery?"
Seeing Director Li walk into the consultation room from outside, Nurse Xiao Zhou quickly asked.
"Huh?" Her sudden question left Li Chu somewhat bewildered, and for a moment he didn't know what she meant.
"That's the patient you just saw. When he went to the surgery department, the doctor diagnosed him with acute appendicitis and admitted him to the hospital for surgery."
"Oh, you mean that appendicitis from earlier? His was the type caused by qi stagnation and blood stasis, which can be cured with acupuncture and medication."
"Then why did the surgeons recommend surgery?"
"It's simple, a one-time solution. Western medicine considers the appendix to be dispensable, so if there is acute inflammation, it's simply removed."
"So this thing is really useless?"
"How could it be useless? After so many years of evolution, useless things have long been eliminated. In Western medicine terms, the appendix is responsible for the function of intestinal immunity, and can also secrete digestive enzymes and store probiotics, so it is best not to remove the appendix unless absolutely necessary."
"Doctor, do you mean that there are actually many types of appendicitis?"
"Yes, Traditional Chinese Medicine classifies intestinal abscess into three types: Qi stagnation and blood stasis, damp-heat accumulation, and heat-toxin invasion. If it is the heat-toxin invasion type, I would also recommend surgery, because at this time the patient's appendix has completely suppurated. If surgery is not performed in time, it may endanger his life."
"Are you capable of performing surgery?"
"Haha," Li Chu laughed when he heard Xiao Zhou's question and said, "Xiao Zhou, do you think that traditional Chinese medicine doctors don't perform surgery?"
"That's right. I've noticed that the other doctors in the Traditional Chinese Medicine department mostly use massage or acupuncture. I haven't seen any of them mention surgery. If a patient needs surgery, they'll tell them to go to the surgical department for a second opinion."
"Traditional Chinese medicine also has surgical procedures, but because of the existence of Western medicine, TCM doctors no longer need to perform surgery. In addition, after so many years of changes, many surgical techniques have been lost. So even in schools now, teachers will not teach TCM students these techniques because they themselves do not know them."
Will Li Chu have surgery? Of course he will. It was in the skill book he opened back then. But like I said, there's no need for it.
He doesn't need to compete with surgeons for a living. Besides, while he might know those skills, the techniques passed down in the skill books are indeed quite rudimentary. Even he would need to practice many times to become truly proficient in performing a surgery.
Currently, the treatment of diseases through acupuncture, massage, and syndrome differentiation is enough for young TCM doctors to study for a lifetime. If TCM surgery were added, those students might go crazy.
Seeing Xiao Zhou nod as if he understood, Li Chu waved his hand and said, "Alright, go see if there are any other patients outside who have booked traditional Chinese medicine treatments."
"Yes, Director."
It seems like I haven't checked in for a while? Li Chu muttered to himself.
Signing in now holds no appeal for him. No matter what rewards the system gives him, he's not going to openly use them.
Forget it, we still have to go through the proper procedures. Who knows when the system might break down?
He immediately decided to get the signature when he went to bed that night.
Just as I was pondering this, the curtain was lifted, and Director Zhao of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department walked in with a solemn expression.
"Old Zhao, what's wrong? Sit down."
"Director Li, I'd like to ask if you've recently prescribed any medications that haven't worked for the patients?"
Director Zhao's words stunned Li Chu, who was momentarily unsure of their meaning.
"Old Zhao, what do you mean by this? Are there cases where patients don't respond to the medicine?"
"Hmm," Director Zhao nodded, "It's not just one or two anymore; there have been several patients like this in the last two days."
As he spoke, he placed the prescriptions he was holding on the table.
Li Chu picked up the prescriptions and looked at them, then inquired about the patient's condition. According to Director Zhao, these prescriptions should be appropriate.
Moreover, these prescriptions were not written by one person. Even if someone made a mistake, it's impossible for several doctors to make the same mistake in a row.
Several of them were senior doctors, and Li Chu didn't believe they would be so irresponsible.
After watching for a while, he realized something was wrong.
"Wait a minute, Lao Zhao, where did you get this prescription? Did you specifically get it from the pharmacy?"
"No, the patient brought it over."
"You mean none of these patients got their medication from our pharmacy?"
"Uh... since they have the prescription, it must be medicine bought outside."
Where is the patient now?
“They didn’t come today; they came yesterday and the day before. I just noticed something was off while I was tidying up, so I put them all together and thought I’d come over to see if you had the same situation.”
"I haven't seen this situation yet. Oh, is that so? Is it possible to contact these patients?"
"I can contact one of them; he lives right across from our hospital."
"Old Zhao, go find him and ask him where he bought the medicine. Have him take the prescription and buy another dose, then bring it over so we can take a look."
"Director Li, do you mean there's something wrong with the medicine sold at that pharmacy?" Director Zhao's eyes lit up immediately.
They discussed it for a long time, but they really hadn't thought about medicinal herbs.
"This is the only scenario I can think of right now," Li Chu said, nodding.
The reason he was able to think of this was mainly because he remembered a news story he had seen in his later life, which mentioned that a certain pharmacy was selling problematic medicinal herbs. Patients went there to get medicine, but after drinking it, it had no effect at all. It was only when the drug administration came down to inspect that the problem was discovered.
"Okay, I'll send someone over right now to find this patient and have him get another dose of this medicine."
"Yes, call me when you get the medicine, I want to take a look too."
"Okay," Director Zhao said, picking up the prescriptions and leaving.
After he left, Li Chu sat there, frowning and deep in thought.
The prescription was correct, and the medicine was dispensed according to the prescription, but the medicine did not work after drinking it.
This is interesting.
Director Zhao's execution was quite outstanding. In just half an hour, he came back with a prescription and the patient, followed by several doctors from the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
After exchanging pleasantries, Li Chu first took the patient's pulse to confirm that the prescription was indeed correct. Then, they opened the paper package together and began to examine the medicine.
There were only four ingredients in total, and the dosage was not large. As soon as he opened the paper package, he could tell at a glance that there was something wrong with the Coptis chinensis.
Director Zhao and the other two veteran Chinese medicine doctors also noticed it.
Several people simultaneously picked up a small piece and stuffed it into their mouths.
Their actions made the nurse, Xiao Zhou, and the patient twitch at the corner of their eyes.
"Pah! This isn't the Coptis chinensis from Sichuan. If I'm not mistaken, it should be grown in the Jiangnan region." An old doctor had just put a sip in his mouth when he spat it into the spittoon by the wall.
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