A Hospital in Another World?

Chapter 177

"Grow a hollow vine, as thin as half of a pinky finger," commanded Elder Wood.

"Do you have fine metal wires? The kind as thin as hair?—Master Tolga, you can actually shape silver coins on the spot, that’s impressive! Alright, very well, wrap the silver wires around the vine to mark the position, then cast [Detect Magic] again!"

Elder Wood sat opposite the young girl, with Garrett standing behind him, giving continuous directions. He couldn’t help but congratulate himself inwardly: Elder Wood agreed to using a vine for gastric insertion without hesitation. It seemed that the teacher had boasted about it after the last bronchoscopy, and Elder Wood must have secretly practiced. However, commands were still necessary. A gastroscopy involved different procedures from a bronchoscopy, and Garrett kept guiding without pause:

"Miss, please lie on the pillow, with your head tilted up and chin against your chest, don’t move! Put another pillow behind her, very good! —Elder, temporarily numb her throat with divine magic, insert the vine from the nostrils, let it grow into the mouth, then follow the throat into the esophagus!"

Iris, the patient, felt fear and instinctively struggled as the instructions echoed in her ears. The female knight pressed down on her friend’s shoulder with one hand and tried to stabilize her head with the other, lifting her face to gaze at Garrett, her emerald eyes filled with both doubt and plea.

Garrett sighed inwardly, stepping forward to calm the patient: "Miss, don’t be afraid. Didn’t we just explain? This vine is very thin, much thinner than your throat. As long as you don’t move, you won’t be scratched. Be obedient, lie still..."

After several calming attempts, Iris finally relaxed her tense body. Garrett leaned over to her, smiling slightly: "Here, open your mouth, say ’ahh’ with me—"

"Ahh—"

Iris opened her mouth, and seizing the opportunity, Elder Wood swiftly inserted the vine into the patient’s nostril, winding it down into the stomach. Garrett monitored the position of the silver wire in his meditative vision, seeing that the end had reached near the xiphoid process. He quickly shouted, "Alright alright! Stop!"

Garrett sighed deeply. In the past, everyone relied on blind insertions, but now, with [Magic Detection], the process felt much more convenient.

Taking the vine, Garrett held it close to the girl’s face with one hand, firmly grasping it. With the other hand, he handed it to the old mage: "Master Tolga, please drive the wind element to suck out the air from the vine, not too fast. After sucking it out, the contents in the stomach will rush out. Please continue to guide these liquids until I say."

"No problem. Leave it to me!" Elder Wood took it over casually. Garrett smiled to himself: Just negative pressure suction, without a suction device or a 50ml syringe, and without the priests of the Temple of the Spring Goddess, I still managed! Methods are all thought up by people... Hmph...

The vine made a hissing sound as Garrett felt the invisible whirlwind sucking air. Then, drop by drop, transparent, slightly viscous liquid was drawn out.

Grabbing a cup to catch it, Garrett observed carefully. First, stomach contents, and soon, fermenting intestinal contents appeared. The foul smell hit them, Seraina covered her nose and stepped aside: "What are you staring at so intently?"

"Thank goodness, there’s no bleeding." Garrett stared at the cup without lifting his head. As for finding worms in the food residue, he didn’t mention it to avoid grossing people out. The female knight hesitated for a moment, sighing softly: "You’ve worked hard."

"Mm, mm." Garrett responded vaguely. He kept checking the volume in the cup, the speed and state of the stomach contents flowing out, suddenly calling out, "Stop!"

The amount drawn out was almost enough, and the tube below the stomach was starting to clog—it was time to stop! Gastric decompression completed, enema completed. All preparations were done, but Elder Wood hesitated, holding the pills in his hand: "This medicine... can only kill about sixty to seventy percent of those life energies at most; with divine art, maybe ninety percent. Garrett, do you have any other ideas?"

Ideas? In this otherworld, where can I find metronidazole, albendazole, or mebendazole for you? As for rattan and magnolia vine, I have nowhere to find them either! I remember the recipe for wumei pills, but as for atractylodes, coptis, aconite, and ginseng, am I expecting a cross-temporal pharmacy, or am I expecting to be able to order on Taobao??

Garrett desperately searched his mind for articles. Oral vegetable oil, that’s lubricating; oral honey ginger, the insecticidal effect is probably not as good as Elder Wood’s pills; rhubarb decoction? Dinggui powder? Wake up, there’s no traditional Chinese medicine here... Why should I, an emergency surgeon, bother with the thoughts of a gastroenterologist... Even in the past life, conservative treatment was done by internal medicine!

Garrett lamented, lamented, lamented again. Lamented to the extreme, he actually had a flash of inspiration, took out the remaining potassium permanganate from his waist pouch: "Elder, that thing we used last time—to gather the same gas as in the test tube, inject it into the bubble spell, can you use that divine art once more?"

"No problem!" Elder Wood readily agreed. "I’ve already simplified that divine art; it only requires fifth-level. Ah, you’ll soon reach fifth-level, I’ll teach you!"

This and that... A faraway water can’t quench a nearby thirst, but fortunately, someone on-site can use it. Garrett raised a finger: "This time, I want not just the bubble spell, but to inject it into bubbles, send it into the stomach through the vine, preferably into the intestines. Can you do it?"

"This..." Elder Wood hesitated. "Sending it into the intestines is probably fine, it’s just letting it grow on its own. I can’t control the shrinking of the bubbles..."

Can’t do it? I can’t do it either, although I know the bubble spell, my magical control isn’t up to this level. However, it doesn’t matter, grab a balloon—oh, the emergency department calls it a balloon, it’s actually an oxygen bag, any substitute will do. Fish bladder, pig bladder, filled with oxygen and wrapped around the vine, just squeeze it! Garrett had already started looking around for alternatives left and right. The old mage calmly interjected: "I can do it."

Oh, someone volunteered as a laborer! Garrett clapped his hands: "Great! You two try to cooperate first, use the bubble spell and the vine to inflate the basin with air—I’ll be right back! Elder, do you have alchemical equipment here?"

The two old men cooperated with magic. One time, two times,

 three times, they finally smoothed out all the flaws. Meanwhile, Garrett also completed the work of heating potassium permanganate and producing oxygen, brought a tube of oxygen over: "Well, first insert the tube, then summon the gas, use the bubble spell to send it into the body. Wait a moment, you’ll see the effect!"

He dashed in and out, his speed too fast, his tone too confident. The old mage didn’t even have a chance to ask questions, let alone insert and ask, "What gas is this?" "Is it dangerous to inject it into my daughter’s body?" Elder Wood thought for a moment, shook his head to refute: "Didn’t you say last time that this gas enhances human vitality? Injecting it like this, what if the bugs start to act up..."

"But those bugs are afraid of this gas!" Garrett blinked, smiling. Elder Wood’s reaction was really quick, able to deduce from one situation to another; he actually thought about the effects of oxygen on the human body. However, worms are anaerobic: "Just think about it, these bugs live in the intestines, where there’s not much air, they’re used to it. Suddenly a lot comes in, it’s like a thick-furred ice wolf entering the desert, wouldn’t it just get heatstroke and die?"

"Hmmmm..." Elder Wood thought for a moment, nodded, and approved Garrett’s plan. Master Tolga still hesitated: "What gas are you talking about? Will it harm my daughter?"

"Absolutely no problem!" Elder Wood reassured with emphasis. "I’ve employed this gas once before, on an adventurer who was struggling to breathe and teetering on the brink of death. That individual relied on it to pull through! Rest assured, it’s simply gathered from the air; it won’t cause any harm, only bring benefits!"

"So, what exactly is it then?"

"I honestly couldn’t tell you... it’s a unique secret technique."

A unique secret technique?

Was it stumbled upon by chance, or concocted through some obscure method? Master Tolga regarded Garrett with a hint of suspicion. His gaze shifted from the young man’s confident visage to his chest, where the mage badge, with its black base, copper star, and circular ring, was pinned.

A first-level mage.

A fledgling wizard.

Yet already with published articles in ’Arcane’...

"So, is this gas your unique secret technique?"

"Not exactly..." Garrett modestly smiled. "It’s something that naturally occurs in the air; I simply discovered its presence and made a rough estimate of its content." After a moment’s pause, he added, "The white flame you witnessed earlier was conjured using this gas as a spell component."

This is as much as I can reveal... Should I just call it oxygen? Even if I provide the molecular formula, it might not be recognized!

"Oh!" The elderly mage was impressed. With the prowess of a mere first-level mage, he had momentarily held off the ice giant. That spell had indeed made a profound impression. However, it was another person’s unique spell, so he refrained from inquiring further at the time.

"That white flame—originally, were your casting gestures for the Burning Hand spell?"

"It was indeed the Burning Hand spell, albeit with a different casting component." The efficacy was remarkable.

"What do you mean ’different’? That’s an addition!" Burning Hand doesn’t typically require casting components, so how can you say it’s an addition! Master Tolga blurted out. Garrett slightly lowered his head, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth, but he didn’t engage in argument. After a moment’s contemplation, the elderly mage pressed on:

"Do you have any research papers?"

"Not yet."

"Who is your mentor?"

"I studied at the Mage Tower in Hartland City, currently participating in the training program at the Magic Council..."

Ah, a promising talent with credentials, not yet confined to any one master’s tutelage. Master Tolga once again scrutinized Garrett, then glanced at the test tube in his hand:

"What is this gas? May I try it?"

"I only have this one tube. The materials I brought were insufficient, so I only managed to produce this single tube."

Garrett shrugged. The elderly mage hesitated for a moment, torn between "not prying into others’ magic" and the life of his daughter, ultimately choosing his daughter. He rummaged in his robe sleeves and extracted a small silver bell, placing it on the table and nudging it toward Garrett:

"My apologies—what material is it?"

Potassium permanganate. Oh no, what’s it called here... Linde Ferrell mentioned it once... Ah, yes!

"Purple Scale Stone!"

His eyes lit up with delight, as if recalling something long forgotten, and a smile crept up at the corner of his mouth. The elderly mage immediately glanced at Elder Wood, who shook his head, "None."

Left with no other options, Master Tolga sighed and, seeing Garrett disregard the silver bell on the table, opted to pick it up himself and thrust it into Garrett’s hands:

"Then let’s employ your method! I’m placing my trust in you!"

The two elderly men and the young man once again united their efforts. Elder Wood handled the vine and summoned the gas, while Master Tolga controlled the bubbles, allowing them to contract slowly. Garrett stood by, shouting:

"Slow down! Don’t allow the bubbles to shrink too quickly! If they shrink too fast, it could rupture the intestines. Slower!"

500ml of oxygen—though not pure oxygen, it was air with a high oxygen concentration—gradually entered the intestines. Theoretically, oxygen can be administered at a rate of 5L/min, but this was a vine, not an endoscope, and the interior of the intestines couldn’t be observed. Garrett feared that if the vine’s exit wasn’t properly positioned, it might spray onto the intestinal wall, causing perforation...

If they had to perform intestinal surgery to repair it, it would be troublesome, with myriad complications and sequelae. Sigh, better to err on the side of caution. It wouldn’t hurt to have a bit more oxygen lingering in the gastrointestinal tract. Even if the intestinal wall absorbed some oxygen, it would only be a minuscule amount.

Wu wu wu, when will they develop a magical or divine art for endoscopic procedures...

Adding another item to his wish list, Garrett watched as, at his behest, the elderly mage slowly administered the oxygen. In less than ten seconds, the pained expression on Iris’s face visibly eased.

"I don’t hurt anymore..."

"Stay lying down! Stay lying down!!!" Garrett hurriedly intervened, ensuring she remained prone. Don’t dislodge the gastric tube!

After the oxygen had been administered, the gastric tube was removed—or rather, it retracted on its own. After approximately fifteen minutes, Elder Wood activated his divine magic and once more probed Iris’s life force. Under the divine light, he exclaimed, "Almost all of them are dead! Young Garrett, the efficacy of this gas of yours far surpasses pills!—Her stomach also appears somewhat flattened now, not as distended as before..."

Of course. Garrett clapped his hands with a relaxed demeanor, as if shaking off the dust of unnecessary worries:

Administering oxygen through the gastrointestinal tract for parasite expulsion has been corroborated by numerous cases and research papers. Particularly in cases of biliary ascariasis, when patients are in agonizing pain, administering a few seconds of oxygen through an endoscope—oh, the effect, it’s immediate!

The pain ceases right then and there, prompting an immediate ultrasound examination. The roundworms are already deceased!

As for the reduced stomach distention...

When the adult worms perish, they no longer cluster together. As they disperse, the stomach naturally appears flatter.

"The treatment is highly effective! Next, we’ll flush out the deceased worms, and the ailment will be cured!"

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