L’Histoire de la chirurgie du silex à nos jours

Did you know that, not until the successful surgery of Louis the XIV in 1686 by Félix de Tassy, for his anal fistula, was surgery finally recognized as a profession? In this illustrated book, Dr Pierre-Louis Choukroun relates numerous anecdotes that led to major discoveries in the art of surgery, from Prehistoric practitioners operating with primal flintstone instruments, to today’s high-tech technicians. This book is a meeting of the obscure with the well-known personalities of the international medical and surgical world, fundamental to the progress of mankind. For example, in the 16th Century, two very significant discoveries were made: Anesthesia (Wells and Morton). and hand disinfection and sterilization (asepsis) (Semmelweis, Pasteur and List). In the 20th Century the fight against infection, blood transfusion, medical imaging, laser surgery and organ transplants became routine. And, thanks to fiber-optics, cameras and computing have become part of today and tomorrow’s surgical environment : The first ten years of this 21st Century has been especially rich in innovations – robotics surgery, remote surgery, nanotechnology – and specific discoveries in each surgical discipline. We are on the threshold of revolutionary breakthroughs, tweaking the very core of cells, and even chromosomes.