[History of minimally invasive surgery]

This paper presents a historical review and development of minimally invasive surgery. The interest of physicians to "look into the internal organs" has existed since the ancient time. The first described endoscopy was by Hippocrates. He made reference to a rectal speculum. The credit for modern endoscopy belongs to Bozzini. He developed a light conductor which he called "Lichleiter" to avoid the problems of inadequate illumination. In 1853, Desormeaux first introduced the "Lichtleiter" of Bozzini to a patient. Many developments, which occurred independently but almost simultaneously, produced breakthroughs for endoscopy and laparoscopy that were bases for modern instruments. In 1901, Kelling coined the term "coelioskope" to describe the technique that used a cystoscope to examine the abdominal cavity of dogs. In 1910, Jacobaeus used the term "laparothorakoskopie" for the fist time. In 1938, Veress developed the spring-loaded needle for draining ascites and evacuating fluid and air from the chest. Its current modifications make the "Veress" needle a perfect tool to achieve pneumnoperitoneum during laparoscopic surgery. In 1970, Hasson developed a technique performing laparoscopy through a miniature leparotomy incision. The first solid state camera was introduced in 1982 that was the start of "video-laparoscopy". In 1981 Kurt Semm performed first laparoscopic appendectomy. Within a year, all standard surgical procedures were performed laparoscopically. The authors also analyzed the new surgical techniques, such as telesurgery, robotics and virtual reality in current surgical practice. They specially enmphasized the use of laparoscopic access in pediatric surgery which has become a new gold standard in surgical treatment of pediatric patients.