History of Microsurgery—from the beginning until the end of the 1970s

Fine surgeries were started by vascular surgeons in the mid 1500s and included vascular ligature or suture of vascular wounds incurred in battle. Between 1800 and 1900, vascular end‐to‐end or end‐to‐side anastomoses and autogenous vein grafts became possible due to the efforts of Eck, Carrel and Guthrie. Thereafter, several experiments were performed for the transplantation of organs and limbs. Since the first use of the monocular microscope for ear surgery by Nylén in 1921 and the use of the binocular microscope by Holmgren in 1923, true microsurgery has developed and has gradually been specialized for every clinical discipline including otorhinolaryngology, ophthalmology, brain‐neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, transplantation surgery, oncology, gynecology and urology. This could not have been accomplished without the development of the Zeiss operating microscope (OpMi system), fine microinstruments, and fine suture materials. The author describes the history of microsurgery from its beginning through the end of the 1970s, covering as many surgical disciplines as possible. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss Inc.