IV. Urinary Calculi

We were invited to consult at the General Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army in Lanzhou. The patient was Qu, a 45-year-old man who served as a cadre in the Qinghai Provincial Party Committee. On his way back from a conference in Beijing, he suddenly experienced lower back pain and hematuria during a flight. After landing at Lanzhou Airport, he was urgently admitted to the high-level ward of the General Hospital. The next day, he underwent lithotripsy, but he continued to experience hematuria and severe lower back pain. Ultrasound and CT scans revealed a fractured stone in the right kidney, lodged in the upper segment of the ureter. We examined his pulse, which was tense, rapid, and wiry, with a yellowish, thick, greasy coating. The formula used was: 10 g of Triangular Root, 10 g of Curcumae Rhizoma, 10 g of Prepared Turmeric, 10 g of Periwinkle, 10 g of Acacia Sinensis, 10 g of Kelp, 10 g of Citrus Aurantium, 6 g of Magnolia Bark, 10 g of Ligusticum Chuanxiong, 10 g of Plantain Seed, 10 g of Red Peony, 30 g of Lysimachia, 20 g of Coix Seed, 10 g of Peach Kernel, 10 g of Achyranthes Bidentata, and decocted in water, one dose per day. After three doses, his lower back pain suddenly disappeared. During urination, the patient discovered two stones, about the size of sesame seeds, yellowish and dark brown in color. The patient said that he only felt mild lower back discomfort now, with a wiry, fine pulse and a weak radial pulse; his tongue coating had become thinner, and its color had faded. He was prescribed Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan. The patient was discharged and went to work in Qinghai. All four cases we consulted were treated according to the sixteen-character principle of “Western diagnosis, Traditional Chinese Medicine differentiation, Chinese medicine as the mainstay, Western medicine as a supplement.” Precisely because our clinical diagnoses and treatments were guided by this mindset, we were able to correct others’ misdiagnoses, compensate for their shortcomings, and help patients who had long suffered from ineffective diagnoses or treatments achieve a definitive diagnosis or effective treatment. This demonstrates the superiority of integrated Chinese and Western medicine, as well as its ever-growing vitality. Traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine often share few common languages; consultations between TCM and Western medicine often remain superficial, either seeking mere formalities or shifting responsibility, and in the end, they rarely yield real results. These four consultations illustrate that consultations between TCM physicians and Western doctors can leverage each other’s strengths while avoiding their weaknesses, thereby improving therapeutic efficacy and ultimately achieving the goal of curing patients. Cases 1 and 2 corrected their diagnoses and proposed integrated TCM-Western medicine treatment approaches; cases 3 and 4 provided effective treatment for patients whose Western medical treatments had failed.

Discussion on Treatment of Decompensated Cirrhosis

Liver tissue fibrosis caused by various factors eventually leads to portal hypertension, which is known as cirrhosis. Portal hypertension triggers a series of compensatory changes, such as splenic enlargement, esophageal varices, and ascites. The persistent production of ascites indicates that these compensatory changes have reached a point of no return, hence the term “decompensated cirrhosis.” Cirrhosis develops on the basis of recurrent chronic active hepatitis. Clinically, early cirrhosis is often diagnosed when chronic liver disease is accompanied by prolonged dysregulation of albumin and globulin levels, fixed splenic enlargement, and a portal vein diameter exceeding 14 mm; mid-stage cirrhosis is characterized by esophageal varices, while late-stage cirrhosis is marked by ascites. Therefore, decompensated cirrhosis refers to the late stage of cirrhosis, with ascites being a critical indicator. At the same time, most patients with decompensated cirrhosis may also develop more severe complications, such as gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hepatic necrosis, hepatic encephalopathy, secondary aplastic anemia, and electrolyte disturbances. These complications can threaten patients’ lives at any time. Consequently, treating decompensated cirrhosis is an extremely challenging task—only through the integration of Chinese and Western medicine, with full dedication, can we turn the tide and extend patients’ lives. Having practiced medicine for over 40 years, I have personally witnessed countless rescue efforts and accumulated rich experience.