Ambroise Paré (1510-1590) and the evolution of the surgical instrumentarium

Ambroise Paré (1510-1590) has done pioneer work not only in surgery but also in the teaching of surgery. For hemostasis, he reintroduced vascular ligation instead of cautery. Moreover, he has improved the surgical instrumentarium. He devised the grooved sound for the operation of incarcerated hernias. He also developed a method for the treatment of the urinary fistulas which frequently occurred as the consequence of the surgical removal of bladder calculi. He raised the level of fracture treatment. It was he who introduced the word 'bistoury' for the surgical knife.