Florence Johnson, age 15, of Johnson City, Tenn., for her question:
WHEN WAS SURGERY FIRST PERFORMED?
Surgery is the treatment of disease and correction of deformity or defect by manual and operative procedures. Simple general surgical procedures were known in many different societies in ancient times, but more scientific surgical techniques were not performed until the 3rd Century B.C.
The ancient Egyptians performed operations such as removal of stones from the bladder, amputations and various eye operations. The surgery of the early Greeks, largely practiced on the battlefields, was derived from that of the ancient Egyptians, as was their medicine.
Many elements have contributed to the development of surgery, such as the gradual gathering of knowledge regarding anatomy and physiology, the discovery of the circulation of the blood, the perfection of the microscope, the discovery of X rays and the invention of better instruments and apparatus, including laser and ultrasonic devices.
The discovery of anesthesia and antisepsis has broadened the scope of surgery so that patients formerly treated with plasters and medicines are now receiving surgical procedures.
Medieval surgery was practiced from the decline of the Alexandrian school to the start of the 16th Century. The Alexandrian school (233 to 30 B.C.) featured surgery that was based on diagnostic precision and operative daring through the study of human anatomy. The Greek surgeon and anatomist Herophilus was the founder of this study.
During the 16th and 17th Centuries, many discoveries in surgical practices were made. Much credit belongs to French surgeon Ambroise Pare, often called the father of modern surgery, who was a member of the Corporation of Barber Surgeons.
Pare, who lived in the 1500s, successfully employed the method of ligating arteries in order to control hemorrhage, thus eliminating the old method of cauterizing (searing) the bleeding part with a red hot iron.
In the Middle Ages, surgeons were often confused with barbers. Both performed operations, but only the barber practiced bloodletting.
The surgeon during the Middle Ages did not practice bloodletting, as did the barber, although both performed operations. It is from this old practice of bloodletting that the red and white striped barber pole developed the red standing for the blood and the white for the bandage.
In addition to Pare, here are some additional famous surgeons of the past:
John Hunter (1728 1793): English pathologist and the founder of experimental surgery.
Ephraim McDowell: American from Kentucky who performed the first successful operation to remove a tumor of the ovary in 1809.
Crawford Long: American from Georgia who is credited with having first used ether as an anesthetic in 1842.
Modern surgery has advanced in five main ways: the development of aseptic surgery, the technical improvements in surgical instruments, the increased knowledge of body processes, anesthesia, and the use of chemicals to prevent and treat infections.