Short History of Microsurgery

Microsurgery is known for its highly refined, highly accurate and atraumatic pertaining techniques.

The term ‘microsurgery’ has come to mean surgery performed upon small structures usually with help of some form of magnificent, in a particular the dissecting microscope.

The otorhinolaryngologists seem to have been about the first to realize the limitation placed upon the human hand by the human eye, lead to the development to more sophisticated microscope, equipment, and techniques.

Early in 1921, Nylen, a Swiss E.N.T surgeon, had succeeded in operating on otosclerosis in the inner ear under the operative microscope.

Next the ophthalmologists evinced interest. Perritt of Chicago used the dissecting microscope for operating on the eye in 1946, Barraquer in 1956, Becker in 1956, Dekking and Troutman followed.

The first surgical microscope with selectable working distance and coaxial illumination was introduced for E.N.T surgery in 1853. It truly pointed out the way to the future.

The triumph of the surgeons also aroused the interest of surgeon from other discipline. By mid 1960s, the microscope was used in intracranial vascular surgery.

Jacobson in 1960 first advocated the use of microsurgery in small blood vessel anastomoses, and over the last thirty years the use of loupes and microscope has mushroomed.

In January, 1966, both the 9th and the 6th Shanghai People’s Hospital’s successfully carried out replantations of severed fingers under a 6x operative magnifying glass.

Today microsurgery is used in areas such as plastic surgery, examples of which would be digit replantations or face reconstruction using free tissue flaps. In gynecology it might be used to reverse female sterilization by fallopian tube anastomoses.
Short History of Microsurgery