Surgical Techniques: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide an analytical survey of the information available on the development of past and present surgical techniques, and to make projections for the future. For the purposes of this paper, the Past starts in the Neolithic period and ends in the 1800s. In this context, I have divided the Past into Prehistoric, Ancient and Middle Ages, and this period ends in the second half of the 19th century when the major obstacles to the further development of surgery, such as overcoming pain and infection, were removed. We will discuss the development of surgical techniques, and the obstacles and opportunities prevalent in these periods. In the context of this paper, the Present begins in 1867, when Louis Pasteur discovered microorganisms, and ends in the present day. There have been many important changes in the development of surgical techniques during this period, such as the transfer of surgery from the unsterile operating room to the modern hospital operating theater, the development of advanced and specialized surgical practices, such as transplants and laparoscopy, and minimally invasive surgical methods, robotic and Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery. It is very difficult to foresee how surgical techniques will develop in the Future because of the unpredictable nature of technological progress. Therefore, in this paper, the forecast for the Future is limited to the next 50- 100 years and is a realistic calculation based on already existing technologies. In this context, the Future is divided into the development of surgical techniques that will develop in the near and distant future. It is anticipated that this overview will shed light on the historical perspective of surgical techniques and stimulate interest in their further development.