Surgical instruments and endoscopes of Susruta, the sage surgeon of ancient India

Abstract

Susruta, the great sage surgeon, philosopher and teacher of ancient India, practiced around 600 bc. He is renowned all over the world for his contribution to surgery in general and plastic surgery in particular especially rhinoplasty. But his contribution to endoscopes is not well known to the medical world. His contribution to surgical instruments including endoscopes is reviewed here. Literature survery was the basis of this study. Susruta samhita [1], the treatise compiled by Susruta, various commentaries on it by different authors [2, 3] and other related literature are used as primary sources. Susruta belonged to a period between 600 and 800 bc. His conception of surgical instruments, the description of their quality, methods of manufacture and their usage are very unique, as there were no earlier comprehensive descriptions of similar surgical instruments by any surgeon, not only in India but also the whole world. Susruta was perhaps the first surgeon in the world to describe different types of surgical instruments including endoscopes. This is far beyond the imagination of any other surgeon at that period of time and obviously he was far ahead of his time in this field.