Developments in the Concepts of Surgery and Anesthesia and Their Stages of Development Over the Ages

Abstract

Surgery and anesthesia have been documented and studied since antiquity, where they are connected processes; however, the scope of both disciplines has changed dramatically over the years. While surgery was originally performed mainly as a last resort or in the least-restrictive way possible, nowadays, surgical procedures of the highest complexity are being performed on a daily basis around the globe. On the other hand, anesthesia did not develop as a sorcerous rite to make surgery less painful and traumatic; however, it is a discipline whose progress was proportional in time and modality with that of surgery. The goal of anesthesia, namely, to totally abolish the pain reaction, and to maintain hemodynamic stability while allowing surgery to proceed unhindered, in order to broaden the surgical horizon and allow new procedures to be developed and perfected was slowly achieved. In the earliest days, general anesthesia was achieved by clove oil or corrosive sublimate, then by ketamine or ether, and at present, by the intravenous administration of dolantin, a synthetic opioid. The modalities of anesthesia have changed and there are continuous breakthroughs in the pharmacological everyday practice during anesthesia, but the basic function, performed by a single person, is still the same.