The Future -- and Past -- of Surgery

The most important surgical advances of the last 20 years, and some old surgical procedures that are still popular

By Stuart Fox Posted 04.17.2009 at 6:25 am 1 Comment

Kidney Surgeon istockPhoto

Surgery dates back to Neolithic times, but some major advances have occurred in the last 20 years that have allowed for previously unthinkable procedures.

While many new techniques have been cool without being clinically relevant, PopSci spoke with with Jeffrey Matthews, the chairman of surgery at the University of Chicago Hospital, to look at some of the advances that have actually helped save lives. And as a bonus, we'll look back at some aspects of surgery that haven’t changed over the decades.

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1 Comment

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Lafitte1812

04/19/09 at 8:54 pm

In choosing your top ten lists, I think you choose unique and some currently impractical procedures, while over looking some that have had greater impact.

For instance one that has saved untold numbers of lives is bloodless medicine. In learning how operate in ways to minimize blood loss by using electro-scaples, hemodylation and cell savers, people recover quicker from suregey than they used to and with less risk of blood borne illnesses (ie. AIDS, CMV)

Another one would be the implimating of surgical checklists to prevent needless errors. Those like removing the wrong limb or giving a patient the wrong medicine have reduced and maybe we can use these to cut the cost of medical care. I think that complications following surgery cost 3 times as much more than when they are avoided. Just imagine how many people have benefited and will benefit from these measures!