What is Surgery?
Surgery is a most important and often life-saving service
offered at hospitals and clinics. The word “surgery” is derived from the Greek
word “cheirourgia” meaning “hand work.” Surgery was first practiced by
Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Indians. Surgery is a medical procedure carried
out when diseases cannot be corrected with medications. It is performed after
careful evaluation of the patient’s medical history and subsequent medical
tests, such as blood tests, X-rays, MRI, CT scan, electrocardiogram and other
laboratory work.
The physicians practicing surgery are known as surgeons.
There are specializations for surgery in each medical discipline. They are
general surgery, gynecological surgery, orthopedic surgery, cardiothoracic
surgery, dermatologic surgery, neurosurgery, ophthalmic surgery, oral and
maxillofacial surgery, organ transplantation, pediatric surgery, plastic
surgery, podiatric surgery, surgical oncology, trauma surgery and vascular
surgery. In any surgery, the services of surgeons, anesthesiologists,
certified registered nurses and surgical technologists are required.
Surgery can be major, minor and elective. A minor surgery is
a surgical procedure done for small medical cases. This type of surgery is
performed with simple out-patient procedure. With simple medical instruments,
physicians perform minor surgery in their offices or in an outpatient hospital
setting. It is less complicated and recovery period is short. Tooth
extractions, gingival grafts, vascular cut down for catheter placement and
percutaneous biopsy are examples for minor surgeries. Major surgery is a
highly invasive operative procedure. It is a high risk procedure done with
highly sophisticated equipment. The recovery time for major surgery is long.
Elective surgery is an optional operative procedure that may not necessarily
be essential for a patient's health.
Today, surgery is performed in both traditional open method
and minimally invasive method. In an open surgery, a large incision is made to
allow the surgeon to access the organs directly and examine them by touch. As
it requires a large incision, it leaves scars and marks after the operation.
Minimally invasive
surgery, commonly called keyhole surgery, has gained popularity in recent
times. In this method, a surgical operation is performed with the help of a
small endoscopic camera and several long, thin, rigid instruments that enter
the body through natural body openings or small artificial incisions.
