Surgery is the term traditionally used to describe procedures (called surgical procedures) that involve manually cutting or stitching tissue to treat diseases, injuries, or deformities. However, advances in surgical techniques have made the definition more complicated. Sometimes lasers, radiation, or other techniques (other than scalpels) are used to cut tissue, and wounds may be closed without stitches.
In modern medical care, distinguishing between a surgical procedure and a medical procedure (usually thought of as a procedure that does not involve some cutting or stitching of tissue) is not always easy. However, making that distinction is not important as long as the doctor doing the procedure is well trained and experienced.
Surgery is a broad area of care and involves many different techniques. In some surgical procedures, tissue, such as an abscess or tumor, is removed. In other procedures, blockages are opened. In still other procedures, arteries and veins are attached in new places to provide additional blood flow to areas that do not receive enough.
In another surgical procedure called transplantation, organs such as the skin, kidney, or liver can be removed from the body and then transferred back into the same body (for example, with skin) or into a different body.
Grafts, sometimes made of artificial materials, may be implanted to replace blood vessels or connective tissue, and metal rods may be inserted into bone to stabilize or replace broken parts.
A diagnosis is sometimes accomplished by doing surgery. A biopsy, in which a piece of tissue is removed for examination under a microscope, is the most common type of diagnostic surgery. In some emergencies, in which there is no time for diagnostic tests, surgery is used for both diagnosis and treatment. For example, surgery may be needed to quickly identify and repair organs that are bleeding from injuries caused by a gunshot wound or motor vehicle crash.
The urgency of surgery is often described by three categories:
Emergency
Urgent
Elective
Emergency surgery, such as stopping rapid internal bleeding, is done as soon as possible because minutes can make a difference.
Urgent surgery, such as removal of an inflamed appendix, is best done within hours.
Elective surgery, such as replacement of a knee joint, can be delayed for some period of time until everything has been done to optimize a person
