The story of the stethoscope

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After a day of scorching sun, the surface temperature outside the inpatient department has reached 40℃. The number of patients coming in and out who need intensive care is still increasing. Faced with the mountains of patients in the intensive care unit, everyone is already feeling irritable and uneasy.

The high-speed turnover ward seemed to have undergone another wave of "reshuffle", with different faces lying on the beds and the handovers being carried out carefully and orderly.

"Breaking news... Another new patient is being transferred in from the emergency department. He is currently receiving oxygen via nasal cannula at 10 L/min and has difficulty breathing. The indication for intubation needs to be re-evaluated..."

Xiao Luo, the nurse on duty, shouted to everyone while answering the phone.

The air seemed to freeze at this moment. This was the most embarrassing thing - a patient was coming during the shift change.

"Everyone, hand over your shifts first, make quick decisions, and prepare to receive patients..."

As the senior attending physician on duty today, I said immediately.

With the sound of the transfer vehicle, the patient arrived and everyone immediately gathered around him, following the usual standard movements to cross the bed, give him oxygen, and complete the ECG monitoring connection.

I walked to the bedside and saw a grandfather with white hair and a "medal" faintly visible under the skin of his chest. When I saw the ECG monitor, I instinctively thought that the thing should be a permanent heart pacemaker.

In order to determine the patient's consciousness and symptoms, I patted the old man on the shoulder and asked, "Grandpa, do you know where this is?"

The old man didn't answer, but his eyes kept moving, as if he wanted to express something, with a little northern accent, but I couldn't hear it clearly. I seemed to understand something instantly, so I leaned over and shouted into his ear: "Grandpa, do you know where this is? Did you hear it unclearly?"

The old man shook his head and then nodded.

At this moment, an experienced "old doctor" next to me raised the stethoscope receiver in her hand towards me. My first reaction was that she wanted to listen to my heart, so I quickly said, "Let me do it."

But she put the receiver directly on her grandfather and said loudly into the receiver: "Grandpa, can you hear clearly like this?"

The old man murmured in response: "I heard it clearly, I heard it clearly...", and slowly, his tense expression seemed to relax.

After a series of consultations and targeted treatments, grandpa slowly fell asleep.

The cause of the patient's acute respiratory distress has not yet been fully determined, and there is still a risk that the condition may worsen at any time. As usual, we immediately contacted the family to understand the elderly person's medical history and obtained a signed consent form.

Through full communication with the family, we learned about Grandpa’s chronic disease history and the cause of this illness. We also learned that Grandpa had poor hearing, had been to various hospitals in the past few days, had not had a good rest, and his condition was getting worse.

Fortunately, after our careful treatment and care, grandpa was finally discharged from the hospital two weeks later!

During the follow-up visit, I saw that my grandfather had a pair of hearing aids on his ears, so I joked, "Grandpa, the sound is much clearer now, right?" Grandpa smiled and replied, "This thing is still not as clear as the one you gave me."

My family and I burst into laughter after hearing this...

postscript

The invention of the stethoscope has a history of nearly 200 years. In addition to helping doctors complete important auscultation examinations, it can also serve as a bridge for communication with patients in some cases.

From the French doctor Laennec who first proposed the concept of the stethoscope in order to diagnose and treat patients, to Academician Wu Mengchao who used his hands to warm up the stethoscope before listening to the patient's heart during winter rounds, to the discovery of new uses for the stethoscope in order to enable the patient to hear clearly...

Different stories about stethoscopes have different protagonists and different scenes, but they are all accompanied by the love from the doctor, the love that gives hope to the patients.

The first step between the patient and the doctor is communication and understanding, but the patient is always the one who needs help at any time and in any state.

When anyone faces physical illness, either because of insufficient professional knowledge or because of the physical pain brought by the disease, whether it is soreness, numbness, pain, weakness, or any other strange feeling, it will cause them to have endless speculations about the abnormal behavior and the resulting anxiety and panic.

When I first entered medical school, all I thought about was how to master various cutting-edge medical technologies and how to cure diseases. After working in the hospital for many years, especially after experiencing the COVID-19 epidemic, I deeply realized that no matter how sophisticated the doctor's skills are or how advanced the medical level is, the doctor's care and assistance will always be the most solid emotional fortress for the patient.

Treatment must rely on science, but making patients feel comfortable requires the doctor's heart to help them. The moment the relationship between doctors and patients is established, it should not be oppositional, but symbiotic and empathetic. Empathy and the same spirit are the starting point of treating diseases and the end point of every qualified doctor's lifelong pursuit.

As the name suggests, clinicians need to stand by the bed and observe the patient carefully. The purpose of observation is not only to correctly diagnose the condition, but more importantly to detect what kind of help the patient needs most. The old man in the story has been unable to hear the surrounding sounds clearly. At this time, the patient may feel fearful and irritable, and even the condition may worsen. A careful observation can solve the problem.

A small stethoscope, and the "reverse thinking" it brings, demonstrates not only a clinical skill in collecting medical history, but also the doctor's patience in opening his heart and trying to listen to what the patient says, as well as the compassion in caring for the patient to the best of his ability.

Therefore, the story of the stethoscope is not about the diagnosis of a disease, nor is it about the outcome of a case. The stethoscope does not connect symptoms and diagnosis, heartbeat and eardrum, but a wounded heart and caring hands. Tell me where you feel uncomfortable, I will find a way to hear you, and I will stay with you until the disease disappears.

Tell me the pain and pass on hope to you. This is the true meaning of the stethoscope and the most correct way for doctors and patients to use it. Just like the classic description of the doctor's profession by American doctor Trudeau - sometimes to heal, often to help, always to comfort!

Editor: Liu Yang and Zhao Na

Proofreading: Li Na, Li Yule, Dong Zhe, Li Huiwen

Producer: Wu Wenming

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