Historyof neurosurgery as an independent medical discipline

Abstract

Neurosurgery is a medical specialization practiced worldwide. The term neurosurgery was
first used in 1904, even though eighteen years before, in 1886, Sir Victor Horsley, considered
to be a precursor of this discipline, performed the first craniotomy. Neurosurgery has been an
independent medical discipline since the beginning of thetwentieth century. It is understood
here as the discipline of medicine concerned with the surgical treatment of diseases of the
brain, spinal cord, nerves, brain vessels, as well as the spine. Neurosurgery also includes
areas of knowledge and skills related to neurology, orthopedics, laryngology, ophthalmology
or vascular surgery. Depending on the country where it is taught and practiced, there are
different legal environments for training and practicing neurosurgery. In this work, we
present a review of the source literature on the development of neurosurgery as an
independent medical discipline from its inception until the present day, which is a period
spanning nearly one hundred and forty years.