A surgical knife appears to be dormant, a faceless object; but once its face is attached, it springs to life and becomes a scalpel. The surgeons have encompassed this term, scalpel, for the surgical knife. “Knife” signifies danger. The knife can be used by anyone, but only a surgeon can use a scalpel. This article tries to give you a historical glimpse into the evolution of surgical knife.
The historical evidence of knives used in medicine starts back as far as the Mesolithic period around 8000 BC when flint knives were used as scrapers to cut through the skull. It is presumed that the skull was penetrated to allow the escape of demons that caused headaches, melancholy, or epilepsy. Historical overview Hippocrates was the first to describe the surgical knife. Therefore, even in Hippocrates' time, the shape of the scalpel was much the same as it is today. Further, the Romans used the…
