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The history of microsurgery

  • General Review • GENERAL ORTHOPAEDICS - MICROSURGERY
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Abstract

Microsurgery is a term used to describe the surgical techniques that require an operating microscope and the necessary specialized instrumentation, the three “Ms” of Microsurgery (microscope, microinstruments and microsutures). Over the years, the crucial factor that transformed the notion of microsurgery itself was the anastomosis of successively smaller blood vessels and nerves that have allowed transfer of tissue from one part of the body to another and re-attachment of severed parts. Currently, with obtained experience, microsurgical techniques are used by several surgical specialties such as general surgery, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, gynecology, otolaryngology, neurosurgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, plastic surgery and more. This article highlights the most important innovations and milestones in the history of microsurgery through the ages that allowed the inauguration and establishment of microsurgical techniques in the field of surgery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. First Department of Orthopaedics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, 41 Ventouri Street, 15562, Holargos, Athens, Greece

    Andreas F. Mavrogenis & Panayotis N. Soucacos

  2. Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Konstantinos Markatos

  3. Second Department of Anesthesiology, First Department of Orthopaedics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Athens, Greece

    Theodosis Saranteas

  4. Department of Upper Extremity Surgery, Hand Surgery and Microsurgery, KAT Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Ioannis Ignatiadis & Sarantis Spyridonos

  5. Orthopaedic and Traumatology University Clinic, Clinical Center of Serbia, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Marko Bumbasirevic

  6. Clinical Hospital of Rehabilitation, University of Medicine Iuliu Hatieganu, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania

    Alexandru Valentin Georgescu

  7. Department of Orthopaedics, University of Ioannina, School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece

    Alexandros Beris

Authors
  1. Andreas F. Mavrogenis
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  2. Konstantinos Markatos
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  5. Sarantis Spyridonos
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  6. Marko Bumbasirevic
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  7. Alexandru Valentin Georgescu
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  8. Alexandros Beris
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  9. Panayotis N. Soucacos
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Correspondence to Andreas F. Mavrogenis.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Mavrogenis, A.F., Markatos, K., Saranteas, T. et al. The history of microsurgery. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 29, 247–254 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-019-02378-7

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