After Whom The Instruments Named

History

After Whom the Instruments Named

Suman Nazmul Hosain

Chittagong Medical College & Hospital, Chittagong

Abstract

Innovation in surgery plays a very important role of easing the task of the surgeons. Some instruments

used in cardiac surgery today were designed by legendary surgeons from the past. These useful articles

bear the names of their inventors. There hasn’t been much documentation on the development of

cardiothoracic surgical instruments. The historian claims that first known surgical instruments were

developed as early as 10,000 BC! Hippocrates had reportedly developed different surgical instruments

made of copper, iron, bronze, and brass. Renowned Muslim surgeon of middle age Al-Zahrawi devised

many surgical instruments. Some surgeons developed instruments based on their own anatomical size

and others for “new” operations that required more delicate instrumentation to perform them. Cardiothoracic

surgeons also have adopted instruments innovated, designed and used by colleagues belonging to other

surgical specialty. This article would explore a few of these legendary innovators, illuminating the drive

that led these legends to design the surgical instruments we continue to use in our surgical practices even

today.

Introduction:

Rome was not built in a day. The surgical

instruments used in cardiac surgery have been

developed over the years. Some of these

instruments were designed and popularized

originally by some of the surgical legends. As is

often the case, these legends had designed the

instruments secondary to perceived clinical

needs or occasionally to suit their own anatomic

characteristics or physical limitations. Some of

these useful articles bear the names of their

inventors. We often wonder why a scissor is

called ‘Metzenbaum scissor’ or a clamp is called

‘Cooley’s clamp’. Looking back into the medical

history would make us familiar with some of

these famous figures. Surprisingly there hasn’t

been much documentation on the development

of cardiothoracic surgical instruments and the

surgeons who drove their design and

development. In this article, we highlight some

common surgical instruments used in cardiac

operations, and recall a brief historical glimpse

of the surgeons whose names are attached to

these instruments.

As the art of surgery has evolved, so have the

tools and instruments used by the surgeons to

ease their task. The historians believe that first

known surgical instruments were developed as

early as 10,000 BC! Some authorities claim that

Hippocrates (approximately 460 BC to 375 BC)

had described circulation and he had developed

different surgical instruments made of copper,

iron and bronze.1,2 During the Roman Empire,

better materials and refined craftsmanship led

to the improvement of instruments.

Muslim doctors from the middle age used Seton

and animal gut for sutures in surgery and used

alcohol as an antiseptic. Al-Zahrawi, the most

eminent surgeon among Muslim physicians in

his book Al-Tas’rif, described and illustrated

about 200 surgical instruments many of which

Zahrawi himself devised.3 Importance of the

study of Anatomy as a fundamental

prerequisite to surgery was stressed by him.

He is the first surgeon to use cotton dressing

in combating hemorrhage. Al-Zahrawi’s

description of varicose vein stripping is almost

like modern surgery even after ten centuries.4

Many of the contributions

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