From Knife to Suture: An Outline of the History of Surgical Instrument Development Cover Image

Od noża do nitki: zarys historii rozwoju narzędzi chirurgicznych
From Knife to Suture: An Outline of the History of Surgical Instrument Development

Author(s): Arkadiusz Lipka
Subject(s): History, Social history, Health and medicine and law
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: history of medicine; history of surgery; surgical instruments

Summary/Abstract: Despite the enormous progress in the development of medical sciences in recent decades, surgery is still associated with manual dexterity. The oldest surgical procedures were performed primarily with the hands, and only later with the use of tools that came up as a result of the adaptation of everyday devices. Scientific and technological progress, along with the growing experience of surgeons, influenced the evolution of surgical instruments, which changed both quantitatively and qualitatively. As in other areas of human activity, the most useful surgical tools have constantly evolved and have survived to our times in a form reminiscent of their most ancient precursors. Others, which did not work in practice, today are a curiosity and a trace which allows us to follow the development of surgical thought in the past.

  • Issue Year: 2023
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 135-173
  • Page Count: 39
  • Language: Polish