We’re talking about surgery in the 6th century BCE—when there were no sterile operating rooms, no high-tech equipment, and definitely no anesthesia as we know it today. Yet, one man in ancient India was out there performing complex surgeries that we’d still recognize today. His name? Sushruta who he is hailed as the world’s very first surgeon.
Imagine a time when people thought illness came from angry gods or evil spirits. Sushruta, however, took a radically different approach. He believed in observing, studying, and actually trying to fix the body. In his text, the Sushruta Samhita, he described more than 300 surgical procedures and over 125 different instruments. Sushruta was performing serious surgeries like cataract removal and even early forms of reconstructive plastic surgery.
Sushruta’s most famous procedure was rhinoplasty, or nose reconstruction. In his time, people who’d committed crimes could be punished with nose amputation—a huge social stigma. Sushruta found a way to reconstruct the nose using a flap of skin from the forehead, a technique that’s still a foundation of modern plastic surgery today. That’s right, this wasn’t just primitive cutting and stitching; this was planned, deliberate, and effective reconstructive surgery.
He also performed cataract surgery. Using a specially crafted tool, he removed the cataract lens from the eye, restoring vision in a time when blindness from cataracts was essentially a life sentence.
Sushruta’s Samhita even lists the tools he used—things like scalpels, forceps, and needles, many of which he designed himself. He understood that each tool needed to be just right for its job, so he didn’t work with random objects but crafted precise instruments made from wood and metal.
Even more remarkable, Sushruta had a sense of cleanliness and hygiene long before germ theory existed. He instructed that tools should be sterilized with fire and water, and he used herbs to keep wounds clean. It’s like he knew that cleanliness played a role in preventing infections, even though science hadn’t yet caught up to him.
Sushruta’s influence extended beyond ancient India. His teachings spread to Persia, Greece, and other regions, shaping medical practices across cultures. Modern surgical techniques owe much to his insights. His methods formed a foundation for understanding surgery today.
