Monday, February 13, 2012

History Lesson: from the "Gray's Anatomy"

" the kidney has, of late years, been frequently the seat of surgical interference. It may be exposed for exploration or the evacuation of pus( nephrotomy); it may be incised for the removal of stone (nephro-lithotomy); it may be sutured when movable or floating (nephrorraphy); or it may be removed (nephrectomy)."  - The Urinary Organs, Book: Gray's Anatomy( collector's edition)

Interesting language from historical books. We don't use "nephrotomy" any more. When you google that term, you don't get anything back much except pages of "nephrostomy". Evacuation of pus is now mostly an interventional radiology procedure. Nephrolithotomy is now the realms of the urologist.   Floating kidney is now called "nephroptosis". How often do we see nephrectomies being done now for non transplant related reasons? Very little.


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