History of Surgery

Operation Theater Nursing

An operating theater, sometimes referred to as an operating room, operating suite, or operating room, is a space inside a hospital where a surgical procedure is performed in a sterile setting.

History of Surgery

Operation theaters contained many rows of seats so that students and other viewers could watch the case being worked on and an elevated table or chair of some kind in the center where an operation would be performed. The surgeons operate barehanded with non-sterile tools and supplies while dressed casually with an apron to protect them from blood stains. At the beginning of the 20th century, the mark of a busy and successful surgeon was the profusion of blood and fluid in his clothes, in contrast to today's notion of surgery as a profession that prioritizes cleanliness and diligence.

Using gowns, caps, and shoe covers—all of which were cleaned in his recently developed autoclave—German surgeon Gustav Neuber instituted a stringent set of regulations in 1884 to guarantee sterility and aseptic operating conditions. Using mercuric chloride to clean the walls, floors, staff members' hands, arms, and faces, flat-surfaced instrumentation, and glass shelving, he developed and constructed a private hospital in the woods in 1885. Additionally, Neuber proposes the use of heated and filtered air in the operating theater as well as separate operating rooms for patients who are infected and those who are not. William Halsted presented surgical gloves to the medical profession in 1890. Aseptic surgery was pioneered in the US by Charles Mcburney.

Ancient Surgery

Some adults had holes drilled into their heads during the Stone Age. Because the bone healed back, people at least occasionally survived the "surgery." The aim of the "operation" is unknown to us. Perhaps it was done to relieve pressure on the brain in patients with head injuries. Making mummies has given the Egyptians considerable knowledge of the human body. Prior to embalming a corpse, the major organs were removed since they would otherwise decay.

Egyptian surgery, however, was only used to heal boils and abscesses in addition to repairing wounds, broken bones, and wounds. The Egyptians utilized cauterization, sutures, and clamps. They had surgical tools such scalpels, forceps, saws, probes, and scissors.

They also understood that honey assisted in preventing wound infections. (It acts as a natural disinfectant.) They also applied willow bark to wounds, which had the similar result. Wine was applied to wounds by the ancient Greeks. (The alcohol aided in infection prevention.)

Galen's theories predominated in the Roman Empire when it came to surgical procedures. His interest in anatomy was strong. Unfortunately, it was against the law to dissect human bodies at the time. Galen had to perform animal body dissections, including on apes. Galen had some incorrect beliefs because animal bodies are not the same as human bodies. Galen, regrettably, was a prolific author. His writings dominated medicine for many years. Surgery and other crafts suffered in Western Europe with the fall of the Roman Empire. However, the Arabs preserved concepts of anatomy and surgical methods, and they later traveled back to Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Meanwhile, India had highly trained surgeons. They established plastic surgery as a field. Due to the fact that people were frequently punished by having their noses amputated, rhinoplasty surgeries were frequently performed.

Surgery in the Middle Ages

In the towns of Europe in the 13th century, a new class of artisans appeared. The barber-surgeon was he (or she, as not all were men). In addition to doing basic procedures like amputations and setting broken bones, they also did things like cutting hair and pulling teeth.

The church began to permit some human body dissections at medical schools about the middle of the fourteenth century. But Galen's theories remained prevalent in both medicine and surgery.

Surgery in the 16th Century

Surgery did advance a tiny bit in the 16th century. When some human bodies were dissected, Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) produced detailed drawings of what he observed. Andreas Vesalius, however, was the best surgeon of the Tudor era (1514-1564). He performed numerous dissections and came to the conclusion that many of Galen's theories were incorrect. He released a book titled The Fabric of the Human Body in 1543. It included precise illustrations of the human body. Vesalius made a significant contribution by basing anatomy on observation rather than on the expertise of authors like Galen.

Ambroise Pare was another outstanding surgeon. In the sixteenth century, doctors applied warm oil to wounds. Pare, however, ran out of oil in 1536 while Turin was under siege.

Syringes were employed in the 16th century to inject wine into wounds. There was some advancement in surgery in the 18th century. Some refer to John Hunter (1728–1793), a well-known 18th-century physician, as the "Father of Modern Surgery." He created novel techniques, such as the tracheostomy. The first ambulance service for injured men was established in 1792 by a Frenchman by the name of Dominique-Jean Larrey.

Surgery in the 19th Century

The development of anesthetics significantly enhanced surgery in the 19th century. The inventor Humphrey Davy (1778-1829) discovered that inhaling ether alleviated pain as early as 1799. Sadly, it wasn't until 1842 that it was really applied as an anesthetic in a surgical procedure. In 1847, James Simpson (1811–1870), a midwifery professor at Edinburgh University, started utilizing chloroform for surgical procedures. Cocaine was first used as a local anesthetic in 1884. The usage of Novocain began in 1905. In the 19th century, surgery advanced significantly. Antiseptic surgery was invented by Joseph Lister (1827–1912) in 1865, allowing surgeons to undertake much more intricate procedures. During surgery, Lister sprayed carbolic acid all over the patient to prevent infection. German surgeons came up with a superior approach. Prior to the procedure, the surgeon's hands, clothing, and surgical equipment were all sanitized using superheated steam. In 1890, the first time rubber gloves were used in surgery. Surgery became significantly safer because to anesthesia and antiseptics. They permitted far more intricate procedures. Robert Lawson Tait saved the life of a woman who was experiencing an ectopic pregnancy in 1883 by removing her fallopian tube. Wilhelm Roentgen made the x-ray discovery in 1895. That improved surgery significantly.

Surgery in the 20th Century

Surgery made significant progress in the 20th century. The heart and brain surgeries were the most challenging. Both of these saw a rapid 20th-century development. In 1958, the first pacemaker was created. Christiaan Barnard conducted the first heart transplant in 1967. In 1982, the first artificial heart was put in place. In 1987, the first heart and lung transplant was carried out. In 1960, the laser was created. It was originally applied to eye surgery in 1964.

The first hip replacement operation was carried out in 1960. A boy's arm was amputated in 1962, but doctors were able to reconnect it.

Surgery in the 21st Century

Throughout the twenty-first century, surgery developed. The first face transplant was carried out in 2005. In 2011, the first limb transplant was performed, and in 2012, the first womb transplant.