1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910457920603321

Autore

Tilney Nicholas L

Titolo

Invasion of the body [[electronic resource] ] : revolutions in surgery / / Nicholas L. Tilney

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge, Mass., : Harvard University Press, 2011

ISBN

0-674-06327-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (383 p.)

Disciplina

617

Soggetti

Surgery - History

Surgery - History - 20th century

Surgery - History - 21st century

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Three operations -- The teaching hospital -- Evolution of a profession -- Steps forward and steps backward -- War and peace -- The promise of surgical research -- Operations on the heart -- The mechanical heart -- The transfer of organs -- Making a surgeon, then and now -- Shifting foundations -- Unsolved dilemmas.

Sommario/riassunto

In 1913, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston admitted its first patient, Mary Agnes Turner, who suffered from varicose veins in her legs. The surgical treatment she received, under ether anesthesia, was the most advanced available at the time. At the same hospital fifty years later, Nicholas Tilney-then a second-year resident-assisted in the repair of a large aortic aneurysm. The cutting-edge diagnostic tools he used to evaluate the patient's condition would soon be eclipsed by yet more sophisticated apparatus, including minimally invasive approaches and state-of-the-art imaging technology, which Tilney would draw on in pioneering organ transplant surgery and becoming one of its most distinguished practitioners.In Invasion of the Body, Tilney tells the story of modern surgery and the revolutions that have transformed the field: anesthesia, prevention of infection, professional standards of competency, pharmaceutical advances, and the present turmoil in medical education and health care reform. Tilney uses as his stage the



famous Boston teaching hospital where he completed his residency and went on to practice (now called Brigham and Women's). His cast of characters includes clinicians, support staff, trainees, patients, families, and various applied scientists who push the revolutions forward.While lauding the innovations that have brought surgeons' capabilities to heights undreamed of even a few decades ago, Tilney also previews a challenging future, as new capacities to prolong life and restore health run headlong into unsustainable costs. The authoritative voice he brings to the ancient tradition of surgical invasion will be welcomed by patients, practitioners, and policymakers alike.