Science and Medicine

History of surgery

Surgery is the branch of medicine that deals with the physical manipulation of a bodily structure to diagnose, prevent, or cure an ailment. Ambroise Paré, a 16th-century French surgeon, stated that to perform surgery is, "To eliminate that which is superfluous, restore that which has been dislocated, separate that which has been united, join that which has been divided and repair the defects of nature." Since humans first learned how to make and handle tools, they have employed these skills to develop increasingly sophisticated surgical techniques. However, until the Industrial Revolution, surgeons were incapable of overcoming the three principal obstacles which had plagued the medical profession from its infancy—bleeding, pain, and infection. Advances in these fields have transformed surgery from a risky art into a scientific discipline capable of treating many diseases and conditions.

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See also

• ▸HIV/AIDS in Pakistan
• ▸Columbia, South Carolina
• ▸Dittrick Museum of Medical History

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