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To the 100th anniversary of Vladimir Petrovich Demikhov

Limb amputation is one of the oldest and most famous operation in surgery. Over the millennia, the tools for its implementation and the technique for its perfomance have been constantly improved. In part 1 of the article, using historical, chronological and dialectical methods, as well as the method of comparative content analysis a number of printed (Hippocrates, V-IV centuries B.C.; Celsus, I century; Abu-alQasim, XI century; A. Paré, XVI century, etc.), material (prostheses, surgical instruments) and visual (engraving, painting, etc.) sources, the circumstances and features of the emergence and development of instruments and techniques for limbs amputation from antiquity to the era were studied and recreated Renaissance. The main indication for amputation was the limb death (gangrene), as well as significant tissue trauma caused by cold or firearms (since the XIV century). The limb was truncated (or isolated) with a circular section along the demarcation line (in ancient times) or within healthy tissues (in the Middle Ages). The operation was carried out under a tourniquet applied above the level of amputation; healthy tissues were shifted proximally; sometimes a second tourniquet was applied - below the cut-off level. Anesthesia was achieved by operating in a state of painful shock, after bloodletting, or by applying a tight ligature (tourniquet). Bleeding was stopped with the surgeon's finger, cauterization or vessel cutting of, ligature of one vessel or the entire bleeding tissue (en masse), suturing of the bleeding vessel (A. Paré), as well as astringents and a bandage. The wound of the stump was left open or brought together with sutures. A major stage in the development of amputation was the work of A. Paré (XVI century), who improved instruments (in particular, clamps for stopping bleeding), the technique of the operation, and pain relief during its performance. If in the Ancient World and in the early Middle Ages amputation was life-threatening, available only to a few of the most skilled doctors, was performed relatively rarely and was akin to art, then after its development in the XIII–XIV centuries. barbers began to perform it everywhere, routinely and gradually turned into a craft. Further development of indications for amputation, techniques for its implementation and the transformation of this operation from a craft into a science from the XVII century. until the middle of the twentieth century will be reflected in part 2 of this article.

For the first time, the article introduces into scientific circulation and analyzes the Preface by V.P. Demikhov to his book "Transplantation of vital organs in experiment", published in 1967 in Spanish under the title "Transplante experimental de órganos vitales". Judging by the facts mentioned in the text, V.P. Demikhov wrote it in 1966, reflecting his views on the current state and prospects of homoplastic tissue and organ transplantation. As in previous publications, in particular, in the Preface to the German edition of the book published in Berlin in 1963, V.P. Demikhov substantiated the concept that the main condition for a successful transplantation of homoplastic organs was to restore the blood circulation in them. In his opinion, the success of engraftment depends, first of all, on the ideally performed vascular suture and the immediate inclusion of the transplanted donor organ into the blood circulation of the host body, as well as on the sterility of the undertaken intervention. Having discussed the use of pharmacological immunosuppression as a method of overcoming the biological incompatibility of homologous organs during their transplantation, V.P. Demikhov pointed out the toxicity of the drugs used for this purpose he tested experimentally, as well as his experiments, indicating the possibility of overcoming incompatibility by means of other methods (the selection of the donor and recipient with regard to the blood group, mixing the blood of the donor and recipient by parabiosis, etc.). In this text V.P. Demikhov again mentioned the scheme he had developed for two-stage transplantation of an additional heart as a reserve organ to maintain the function of the patient's decompensated heart and named the main stages of the operation: implantation on the femoral vessels (stage 1) and transplantation into the chest (stage 2). As in the Preface to the German edition of the book, V.P. Demikhov spoke in detail about the model of a “living physiological system” he had developed in 1963 aimed at creating a bank of reanimated organs that would retain their viability until transplanted into another body. Projects for growing the organs in anencephalic newborns for the rejuvenation of the elderly were also outlined.