Gifted Hands

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Throughout history, there have been many notable accomplishments in surgery. This book focuses on the surgical advancements that were made within the United States. Although this book is a quick read, it is an excellent resource for any nurse, nursing or medical student, physician, or layperson with an interest in the history of medicine or surgery. From describing surgeries performed by Native Americans, to the first abdominal surgery, to where surgery is now and where it may go in the future, the author offers an interesting perspective on what happens daily within the OR.

The author is an experienced surgeon who enjoys teaching physicians-in-training, studying history, and engaging in cartography. He has authored more than 200 scientific articles and has authored or edited numerous well-known books, including Principles of Surgery, Surgical Disease of the Liver, and Reflections. He is a past president of the American College of Surgeons, the Central Surgical Association, the Society for Clinical Surgery, and the American Surgical Association. He has been a distinguished alumni professor at the University of Rochester, New York, for more than 50 years.

This book is well organized; it starts by examining surgery during the pre-Columbian and colonial times and ends with a special section about what is on the horizon. Each of the book's 13 chapters highlights a specific area of surgery, such as the advances within anesthesia, gynecology, neurosurgery, and vascular and thoracic surgery. The last chapter focuses on topics that do not fall within surgical technique, such as blood, fluid and electrolytes, burns, metabolic care of the surgical patient, nutritional support, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and anti-angiogenesis. There are examples throughout the book of specific surgeons and patients who were involved in ground-breaking surgery and surgical techniques. Pictures of surgeons and details about what happened in the lives of the patients after their surgeries augment the narrative.

Because of the detailed examples the author gives for each topic, this book will even capture the attention of readers who have never studied surgical history. Some of these examples are the story of an experiment conducted by William Beaumont with a patient who had a gastric fistula, the first removal of large ovarian tumors, details about how patients dealt with surgical pain before anesthetic was discovered, where and how the first gallbladder surgery took place, and where the term “bovie” originated.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn about surgical history or who wants a new perspective on the OR. Gifted Hands will give readers a new appreciation for different anesthetics, electrocautery, and laparoscopic and endovascular procedures by explaining how each was discovered and developed during many years of experiments involving surgeons and their patients. After reading this book, nurses will know how things were done in the past and better appreciate today's OR techniques and possibilities for the future.