Explain the Importance of Surgery?
Well, surgery is that branch of medical science which has for its object the cure of local injuries or diseases, as wounds or fractures, traumas etc., whether by manual operation or by medicines along with constitutional treatment. A surgical procedure may be conducted in response to a sudden injury/trauma as you may have witnessed in case of road accidents/crush injuries. This is referred, to 'Emergency Surgery' during which the patient is in a variable state of resuscitation and the objective of treatment is to preserve as many organs and bodily functions as possible with minimum further trauma. Surgery however may not always be an outcome of an emergency.
It may be undertaken as part of a well planned patient care process and involves removal or reconstruction of organs/body parts to promote treatment or for cosmetic purposes. Such surgical procedures are referred to as 'Elective Surgery'. By-pass surgery of the heart, removal of organs, limb amputations, and laparoscopies are some common examples of elective surgery. The difference between elective and emergency surgery lies in the ability to prepare the patient for the injury and Lo control homeostasis/stress response in the elective surgical patient, while this is not possible in the traumatized patient. We must however remember here that whatever may be the forin of surgery or its subsequent prognosis, the response of the human body to both forms of surgeries is quiet similar. In our subsequent discussions we will help you in understanding some of the key physiological/metabolic responses to surgery which in-turn affect: the nutritional requirements of the patient.