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Sushruta
The famous professor of the ´ science of health and longevity´ (Ayurveda) who had been specially known for his expertise in Surgery, Sushruta authored the work Susruta-Samhita. It is said that he received lessons in Surgery from Divodas, the king of Kashi. The developed scientific constitution of the instruments of surgery as mentioned in Susruta-Samhita compares favourably with the instruments of surgery made these days so much so that the surgeons of these days are wonder-struck.
Author of Sushruta Samhita (600 BC), an ayurvedic treatise: Shushruta performed cosmetic surgery. In fact, his samhita describes over 120 surgical instruments, 300 surgical procedures, and classifies human surgery in 8 categories. The oldest Plastic Surgery operations probably relate to nasal reconstruction. In India, Sushruta (600 B.C) performed operations using forehead skin to reconstruct noses which had been amputated as punishment for cr iminals.
The earliest written reference to cataract surgery is found in Sanskrit manuscripts dating from the 5th
century BC. They are thought to have been written by the Hindu surgeon Susruta. He practiced a type of
cataract surgery known as couching or reclination, in which the cataractous lens was displaced away from
the pupil to lie in the vitreous cavity in the back of the eye. This displacement of the lens enabled the patient to see better. Vision, however, was still blurred because of the unavailability of corrective lenses. As recently as the middle of this century, couching was still practiced in Egypt, India, and Tibet.
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