History of Surgery

Question 1

4000 B.C. Cuneiform Script

Answer 1

First anatomical descriptions of human organs on tablets from Nineveh

Question 2

2500 B.C. Imhotep

Answer 2

A revered Egyptian physician (declared to be divine); wrote an early “book” on surgery

Question 3

2000 B.C. Code of Hammurabi

Answer 3

Medical practices of the day were described; some reflected real insight into disease; most were religious in nature

Question 4

1500 B.C. Vedas (Hindu)

Answer 4

Correlated the “sweet smell” of urine with a specific disease

Question 5

1000 B.C. Homer

Answer 5

Early Greek history/myth by this writer provided a view of military medicine of the time

Question 6

500 B.C. Aristotle

Answer 6

Established an early “scientific” mindset; founder of comparative anatomy

Question 7

A.D. 47 Celsus

Answer 7

Described the signs of inflammation

Question 8

1500 Pare

Answer 8

The greatest surgeon of the sixteenth century; began to ligate arteries after amputation; stopped cauterizing wounds with hot irons and oil

Question 8

A.D. 162 Galen

Answer 8

The first great anatomist; controlled thought, unchallenged, for 1500 years; biology made to serve theology

Question 9

1500 Andreas Vesalius

Answer 9

Father of modern anatomy; challenged Galen openly and correctly; performed dissections on human cadavers himself; used illustrators to create permanent records; changed the whole approach to anatomical studies

Question 10

1800 Edward Jenner

Answer 10

Inventor of the smallpox vaccine

Question 11

1850s Joseph Lister

Answer 11

Developed the technique of antiseptic surgery

Question 11

1850s Louis Pasteur

Answer 11

Father of microbiology, and immunology

Question 12

1850s Theodor Billroth

Answer 12

Responsible for advances in surgical procedures; best known for gastrectomy procedures

Question 12

1850s Martinus Biejerinick

Answer 12

Developed the concept of a virus

Question 13

1850s William Stewart Halsted

Answer 13

Developed meticulous closure of wounds

Question 14

1950’s Michael DeBakey

Answer 14

Developed the first ventricular assist pump

Question 14

1950s Denton Cooley

Answer 14

Perfected the heart-lung machine; performed first U.S. heart transplant and first total artificial heart implant

Question 14

1900 Harvey Cushing

Answer 14

Father of neurosurgery; reduced mortality rate for meningiomas from 96 percent to 5 percent

Question 14

1850s Wilhelm Roentgen

Answer 14

Developed the X-ray machine

Question 15

1990s

Answer 15

Computer age changes surgery; stereotactic approach to neurosurgery; virtual reality offers promise for education and clinical practice

Question 15

1980s

Answer 15

Technological revolution begins; endoscopic surgery becomes routine

Question 16

2000s

Answer 16

Minimally invasive surgical (MIS) techniques, including lasers and robotic-assisted surgery, continue to evolve with the advances in biotechnology