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Today, 90% of brain surgery patients survive, with thanks to the work of Cushing, the world's first brain surgeon. A look at his techniques and how they have influenced modern brain surgery.Key facts
- Dr Harvey Cushing dedicated his professional career to revolutionising brain surgery
- He studied the brain to the point of obsession – collecting 1000 from his patients
- He adapted simple tools to solve the problem of blood loss, designing a clip from household wire and a tourniquet from a pneumatic cuff
- His approach helped to cut operating deaths from 70% to 10% and saw the birth of modern brain surgery
Transcript
Today, brain surgery is a routine procedure.
But 120 years ago, as many as 70% of patients died on the operating table. Now it is under 10% and much of the credit goes to one man, Dr Harvey Cushing.
Dr Harvey Cushing
Prof Dennis Spencer, Yale School of Medicine – "The scalp, and ...
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