Surgery is the branch of medicine that helps treat injuries and disorders. It deals with these and many more problems by operations. A surgeon is the professional that deals with these operations. Every physician is qualified for simple operations, but only professional surgeons are trained for very complicated procedures.
Modern surgery stresses correct diagnosis of the illness and care for the patient before and after the procedure. A surgeon needs to know not only the process of an operation, but also needs to know a lot about anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and pathology. Five to eight years of training following medical school are needed for physicians to be qualified as surgeons.
Many complications are involved in a surgical procedure. Many people, medicines, equipment, and techniques are involved so the patient is very safe and comfortable. The patient's recovery and the sucess of the operation are only possible with a qualified surgical team, which consists of a surgeon, at least one assistant and nurse, and an anesthesiologist. Assistants and nurses help out with the surgeon, and the anesthesiologist particularly deals with the loss of pain.
Many instruments are used in an operational procedure by the surgeon. these include holders, clamps, retractors, scissors, and scalpels. Lasers have been used since the 1970's to make small and delicate openings in body tissue. Many instruments, like the X-ray, help the surgeon in making a precise diagnosis. The X-ray scans the bones of the body and detects the broken and fractured bones and also searches for internal diseases. Other instruments are used to look at body cavities, like bronchoscopes and laparoscopes.
Modern techniques let the surgeon operate sucessfully on every part of the human body. For instance, surgeons can remove long pieces of intestine that have been diseased and sew the intestinal parts remaining back together. After the operation, the body would work normally. Most organs can usually be removed sucessfully in the course of an operation. Transplantation involves taking a diseased organ from one person and replacing it with a healthy organ from another person. The kidney is the most commonly transplanted organ.
Some common surgical operations would be amputations, appendectomies, gastrectomies, and nephrectomies. Some special surgical procedures would include plastic surgery, cardiac surgery, and ophthalmologies.
Sources:
The World Book Encyclopedia, vol.18, 1997
