History of Veterinary Surgery
Veterinary Surgery is old as the civilization itself. It is one of the oldest forms of medicine. A veterinarian must acquire himself with the sequence of events that brought the profession to its present day status.
- 250 BC King Ashoka erected first Veterinary Hospital in India
- Domestic animals have been treated by ancient Egyptian 300 yrs before
- Later on Arabian surgeon took suture material from sun dried sheep intestine
- In the 1st century A.D — Celsus has introduced the use of suture materials
- 1711 – 1761 About 200 million cattle died from Rinderpest in Europe
- 1762 – Establishment of first:” Royal Veterinary College” in France
- 1765 – “Veterinary School of Paris at Alfort
- 1806 – Dr. Philip has developed absorbable suture materials
- 1850- George Dadd was the first veterinarian to use general anesthesia
- 1852- 1922 – Halstead laid down the ” Principles of Modern Surgery “
- 1852 – United states – first Veterinary College at Philadelphia
- 1862 – First Army Veterinary School at Pune in India. Currently 52 veterinary Colleges
- 1867 – Pean – Popularized forceps to control bleeding
- 1869 – Joseph Lister has introduced sterilization of suture materials
- 1894 – Dollars veterinary surgery published
- 1895 – Wilham Conrad Rontgen discovered X-Ray
- 1895 – Laparo-enterotomy for the removal of enterolith
- 1910 – Text book of veterinary Anatomy by Septimus Sission
- 1933 – Founding of American Animal Hospital Association
- 1934 – Babcock has developed stainless steel (metal) as a suture material.
- 1939 – 1st Edison of Canine Surgery
- 1940 – Aseptic principles widely applied in veterinary surgery
- 1960 – gaseous anesthesia replacing parenteral anesthesia for major surgeries
- 1970 – Journal of Veterinary surgery started
As time passes, Veterinary Surgery became wider in its scope and more sophistication
The improvements of anaesthesia blocking of nerves, pinning and screwing of fracture of bones, dehorning of cattle, sheep and goat and radiological diagnosis have played crucial role for the development of veterinary surgery.