Surgery in China today.

Abstract

The fusion of traditional and modern concepts is a unique feature of medical practice in China. Since 1949, there have been considerable achievements particularly in the fields of burns, surgery of the liver, pancreas and the heart, and in microsurgery and limb reimplantation. Surgical skills are now distributed through medical units outside the large cities, and at the grass-roots level, making them available to peasants. Research facilities remain limited and are responsible for the slow and uneven progress in surgery but the new China will spare no efforts to fill the gap and learn from all developed countries.