| While the ancient Egyptians were known to perform amputations and other types of surgery, precise surgical techniques did not begin to develop until Greek physicians used surgery in diagnosis and the study of human anatomy. In the 1500s French surgeon Ambroise Paré improved on the standard method of stopping major bleeding with cautery, or searing, by using forceps and stitches. It was not until after 1865, however, when Joseph Lister introduced the use of antiseptics in the treatment of wounds, that the death rate following major amputations dropped from 50 to 12 percent. Shown here are the contents of a case of amputation instruments dating from about 1800. |
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