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150
Galen's Treatments
Galen viewed cancer much like Hippocrates had, once diagnosed it was incurable. He did though write in his books that if removed early, breast cancer could be treated. -
Period: 150 to
Primitve surgery
Early surgery was very dangerous so often avoided. In most cases the patient would die from blood loss. The tools were made out of the newly used material, iron. Turpentine and pitch were used as antiseptics. Internal surgery was too risky to perform, so when surgery was performed it was amputations. -
May 16, 1000
Surgical Knife
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Tool Kit
This was a common surgery tool kit until 1870 in the United Kingdom -
Anesthesia Introduced
In this year Anesthesics were discovered and surgery study and experiments took off. -
Period: to
Century of the Surgeon
This century got this name because of how rapidly surgery study grew. -
Xrays
This year Xrays were invented by German physicist named Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. As the accuracy of these grew the surgeries became more precise -
Antibiotics
This discorvery was very important because it meant less patients who survived surgery would die from internal infection. -
Scanning
progress in ultrasound (sonography), computed tomography (CT scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI scans), and positron emission tomography (PET scans) have replaced many exploratory operations -
Today cont.
liquid nitrogen spray or a very cold probe to freeze and kill abnormal cells is also used
The way of using lasers is also used to cut through tissue (instead of using a scalpel) or to vaporize (burn and destroy) cancers of the cervix, larynx (voice box), liver, rectum, skin, and other organs.
sometimes even radiofrequencies are used to heat cancer cells to death -
Today
Surgeons can operate using special surgical instruments through narrow tubes put into small cuts in the skin. These instruments can be used to look and work inside the abdomen (laparoscopic surgery) or chest (thorascopic surgery). A similar instrument, the endoscope, can be used to remove some tumors in the colon, esophagus, or bladder by entering through natural body openings such as the mouth or anus. These techniques are obviously much safer than they used to be.
