Surgery enables doctors to remove diseased tissues that threaten the rest of the body. For example, surgical removal of a cancer may eliminate the disease from the body. Similarly, surgeons may remove an infected appendix or gall bladder to prevent spread of the infection. Advanced instruments and techniques have greatly reduced the damage that surgery causes to the body. For example, most operations once required large, painful incisions that took weeks to heal. Surgeons now use an instrument called a laparoscope (pronounced LAP uh ruh skohp) to perform many operations through tiny cuts, reducing pain and recovery time. A technique called balloon angioplasty (pronounced an jee oh PLAS tee) enables many patients to avoid more extensive heart operations. In this procedure, doctors thread a tiny balloon through blood vessels to the heart, then inflate the device to open clogged arteries.
Other advanced techniques enable surgeons to repair or replace damaged body parts. For example, many heart defects can be corrected surgically. Diseased bones, joints, or heart valves can be replaced with metal, plastic, or ceramic substitutes that restore normal function. Entire diseased organs can be removed and replaced with a healthy organ from another person.
Excerpt from the "Disease" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999