Surgical is that which is related to surgery.
The adjective surgical comes from the Latin chirurgicus , although its most distant etymological origin is found in Greek. The term is used with reference to that linked to surgery .
To understand what something surgical is, therefore, you have to know precisely what the concept of surgery refers to. It is the medical specialty that consists of curing a disorder or disease through an operation .
A surgical intervention, therefore, involves a mechanical action on an anatomical structure of the body. Surgeries can be carried out as part of a treatment to solve a problem or with the purpose of establishing a diagnosis.
Historical development of surgery
In ancient times, surgery was not valued by those in charge of health care, since they considered it a deviation from what was natural. Starting in the Middle Ages , however, it began to be understood that surgeries were very important to treat a wide range of health complications.
In recent decades, the surgical specialty has taken great strides thanks to the advancement of technology and scientific discoveries. The use of lasers and microcameras , for example, makes operations much less invasive than years ago, something that helps minimize recovery times after surgery and reduces post-intervention ailments.
It is worth mentioning that the surgical activity takes place in a space known as the operating room . The doctor who specializes in this discipline is called a surgeon .
A surgical intervention involves a mechanical action that is performed on a body structure.
Risk levels
Although any surgical procedure is risky , medicine has established five levels of risk , depending on the state the patient is in before undergoing the operation. The factors that are evaluated to determine the level of each individual are family and personal history, and age.
For example, a young person who is in very good health may be in grade one. A person over 50 years of age, on the other hand, is at least classified as grade two. If you have a disease, such as diabetes, you are assigned level three, and if you also have another disorder, such as heart failure, you can go up one or two, up to the maximum. Infants do not go below grade two.
Riskier surgical procedures
Regardless of patients' level of risk, there are certain surgical procedures that are considered especially dangerous; some of them are the following:
* heart transplant : since it involves the removal of a heart, whether sick or injured, and its replacement with another, which comes from a donor, there is a risk of stroke, damage to certain organs (such as the liver and kidneys), heart attack, and blood clots. On the other hand, the risk of infection from wounds and drugs increases;
* gastric bypass surgery : it is a procedure indicated to combat overweight . It is generally indicated for women who exceed their ideal weight by 35 kilograms or more and for men who exceed it by 45 or more. The risk of this surgical intervention occurs since the way in which the intestine and stomach manage food consumption must be altered;
* cerebral aneurysm repair : when the wall of a cerebral artery widens too much, it is called an aneurysm . Once it reaches a considerable size it can break or leak blood . The surgical procedure to repair this problem can leave consequences such as speech disorders, muscle weakness and memory loss, among others.