The need for a surgical operation, especially an emergency operation, almost always comes as a severe shock to the patient and his family. Despite modern advances, most people still have an irrational fear of hospitals and anaesthetics. Patients do not ofter believe they really need surgery-cutting into a part of the body as opposed to treatment with drugs.
Operations are now being carried out that were not even dreamed of fifty years ago. The heart can be safely opened and its valves repaired. Clogged blood vessels can be cleaned out, and broken ones mended or replaced. A lung, the whole stomach, or even part of the brain can be removed and still permit the patient to live a comfortable and satisfactory life