Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

History of colorectal surgery

A comprehensive historical review from the ancient Egyptians to the surgical robot

  • Review
  • Published:
International Journal of Colorectal Disease Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Colorectal surgery has its roots in the early civilisations and its development followed a complex pathway never disjoined from the social and cultural environment where it took place.

Method

The most relevant historical sources have been evaluated.

Results

A comprehensive review of the history of colorectal surgery is presented, from the ancient Egyptian culture to the modern achievements. The development of surgery of colon, rectum and anus is reported with particular reference to the social environment and history; as the development of colorectal surgery parallels the occurrence of human historical events, the study of the former cannot be disjoined from the latter.

Conclusion

Study and knowledge of the history of medicine — and, in particular, of colorectal surgery for those interested in this particular subject — is a privileged way to understand who we are nowadays and where we come from.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. The Holy Bible, King James version. http://www.o-bible.com/kjv.html

  2. Homans J (1931) A textbook of surgery. Baltimore

  3. Welsh (2011) The history of the world. Quercus, London

    Google Scholar 

  4. Imperiali G (1995) L’antica medicina Egizia, Xenia edn. Milan

  5. Rutkov IM (1993) Surgery: an illustrated history. Mosby Year Book, St. Louis

    Google Scholar 

  6. Marks E. The aphorisms of Hippocrates. Collins, New York, 1817. https://ia700503.us.archive.org/23/items/aphorismsofhippo00hipp/aphorismsofhippo00hipp.pdf

  7. Mettler CC (1947) History of medicine: a correlative text, arranged according to subjects. Blakiston

  8. Senn N (1893) Enterorraphy; its history, technique and present status. JAMA 21:275–283

    Google Scholar 

  9. Cosmacini G (2001) Medicina e mondo ebraico. Editori Laterza, Roma

    Google Scholar 

  10. Magrill D, Sekaran P (2007) Maimonides: an early but accurate view on the treatment of haemorrhoids. Postgrad Med J 83:352–354

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Celsus. De Medicina. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Celsus/4*.html

  12. Celsus. De Medicina. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Celsus/7*.html

  13. Adams F (1834) The medical works of Paulus Aegineta translated into English. London

  14. Graney MJ, Graney CM (1980) Colorectal surgery from the antiquity to the modern era. Dis Colon Rect 23:432–441

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Patiño J (2002) A history of the treatment of hernia. In: Fitzgibbons RJ, Gerson Greenburg A (eds) Nyhus and Condon’s hernia. Lippincott Williams and Wikins

  16. Savage-Smith E. The practice of surgery in Islamic lands: myth and reality. The Society for the Social History of Medicine, 2000. http://shm.oxfordjournals.org

  17. An English translation of the Sushruta Samhita (1911) Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna (ed). Calcutta

  18. Arderne J (1910) Treatise of fistula in ano, haemorrhoids and clysters. Oxford University Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  19. Ellis H (2011) The Cambridge illustrated history of surgery, 3rd edn. Cambridge University Press

  20. Vesalius Andrea. De Humani Corporis Fabrica. http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/flash/vesalius/vesalius.html and http://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/anatomicaltexts/1/

  21. Diller T (1926) Louis XIV, and his operation for fistula in ano. JAMA 87:2018–2019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Haeger K (1988) The illustrated history of surgery. AB Nordbok, Gothenburg

    Google Scholar 

  23. Ellis H (1996) Operations that made history. Cambridge University Press

  24. Heister LA (1739) A general system of surgery. Innys, London

  25. Perrin WS (1931) Some landmarks in the history of rectal surgery. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, London

    Google Scholar 

  26. Wagener DJ (2009) The history of oncology. Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

  27. Wilson E (1973) A place for colostomy in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. Dis Colon Rectum 16:98–102

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Baum W (1879) Resection eines carcinomatoses Dickdarmstuckes. Centralblatt fur Chir 6:169

    Google Scholar 

  29. Gross SD (1866) A system of surgery. Blanchard and Lea, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  30. Meade RH (1968) An introduction to the history of general surgery. WB Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 277–314

    Google Scholar 

  31. Lisfranc J (1833) Sur l’excision de la partie inferieure de rectum devenue carcinomateuse. Mem Acad R Med Belg 11(1–8)

  32. Defalque RJ (2009) The myth of baby “anaesthesia”. Anesthesiology 111:682

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Laing Gordon H (2002) Sir James Young Simpson and chloroform. The Minerva Group

  34. Kielan W, Lazarkiewicz B, Grzebieniak Z, Skalki A, Zukrowski P (2005) Jan Mikulicz Radecki: one of the creators of world surgery. Keio J Med 54:1–7

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Dukes CE (1959) Frederick Salmon. Founder of the St Mark’s Hospital, London. Med Hist 3:312–316

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Corman ML (1984) John Percy Lockhart-Mummery. Dis Colon Rectum 27:208–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Heald RJ, Husband EM, Ryall RDH (1982) The mesorectum in rectal cancer surgery — the clue to pelvic recurrence. Br J Surg 69:613–616

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Heald RJ, Ryall RDH (1986) Recurrence and survival after total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer. Lancet 327:1479–1482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Heald RJ (1988) The ‘holy plane’ of rectal surgery. J Royal Soc Med 81:503

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Heald RJ, Moran BJ, Ryall RDH, Sexton R, MacFarlane JK (1998) Rectal cancer. The Basingstoke experience of total mesorectal excision 1978–1997. Arch Surg 133:894–899

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Longo A (1998) Treatment of haemorrhoidal disease by reduction of mucosal and haemorrhoidal prolapse with a circular stapling device: a new procedure. Proceedings of the 6thWorld Congress of Endoscopic Surgery, Rome, pp 777–784

    Google Scholar 

  42. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Stapled haemorrhoidopexy for the treatment of haemorrhoids. NICE Technology appraisal guidance n.128. http://www.nice.org.uk/TA128

  43. Fowler DC, White SA (1991) Brief clinical report: laparoscopic assisted sigmoid resection. Surg Laparosc Endosc 1:183–188

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Lanfranco AR, Castellanos AE, Desai JP, Meyers WC (2004) Robotic surgery. A current perspective. Ann Surg 239:14–21

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Harada K, Susilo E, Watanabe T, Kawamura K, Fujie MG, Menciassi A, Dario P (2012) Modular robotic approach in surgical applications. In: Dutta A (ed) Robotic systems — applications, control and programming. InTech Europe

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Noble’s Hospital, Strang, Douglas, IM4 4RJ, Isle of Man

    Giovanni Domenico Tebala

Authors
  1. Giovanni Domenico Tebala
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giovanni Domenico Tebala.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tebala, G.D. History of colorectal surgery. Int J Colorectal Dis 30, 723–748 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00384-015-2152-7

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00384-015-2152-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation