At least two prehistoric cultures had developed forms of surgery. The oldest for which there is evidence is trepanation,[4] in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the skull, thus exposing the dura mater in order to treat health problems related to intra cranial pressure and other diseases. Evidence has been found in prehistoric human remains from Neolithic times, in cave paintings, and the procedure continued in use well into recorded history. Surprisingly, many prehistoric and premodern patients had signs of their skull structure healing; suggesting that many survived the operation. Remains from the early Harappan periods of the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 3300 BCE) show evidence of teeth having been drilled dating back 9,000 years.[5] A final candidate for prehistoric surgical techniques is Ancient Egypt, where a mandible dated to approximately 2650 BCE shows two perforations just below the root of the first molar, indicating the draining of an abscessed tooth.
The oldest known surgical texts date back to ancient Egypt about 3500 years ago. Surgical operations were performed by priests, specialized in medical treatments similar to today. The procedures were documented on papyrus and were the first to describe patient case files; the Edwin Smith Papyrus (held in the New York Academy of Medicine) documents surgical procedures based on anatomy and physiology, while the Ebers Papyrus describes healing based on magic. Their medical expertise was later documented by Herodotus: "The practice of medicine is very specialized among them. Each physician treats just one disease. The country is full of physicians, some treat the eye, some the teeth, some of what belongs to the abdomen, and others internal diseases."[6]
Other ancient cultures to have surgical knowledge include India, China and Greece.
Sushruta (also spelled Susruta or Sushrutha), c. 6th century BCE,is known as the Father of Surgery. He was a renowned surgeon of Ancient India and the author of the book
Sushruta Samhita. In his book written in Sanskrit, he described over 120 surgical instruments, 300 surgical procedures and classifies human surgery into 8 categories. He performed Plastic Surgeries, Cataract operations and Cesarean. He used to give a kind of herbal juice equivalent to anesthetics. He was a surgeon from the Dhanvantari school of Ayurveda.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgery#History
