Question

Who was called the father of plastic surgery?
(A) Charaka
(B) Sushrat
(C) Kanada
(D) Patanjali

Answer 1

Hint: In medical Science, Plastic surgery is a medical surgery that involves the restoration and reconstruction of a human body. It can be divided into two main categories which are known as Reconstructive surgery and other is Cosmetic surgery.

Complete answer:
Let us understand plastic surgery and its history in brief. The word plastic means to reshape. In plastic surgery, physicians reshape the parts of the human body. Reconstructive surgery involves a change in the appearance of particular parts of the human body. For example breast reduction, scar revision or leg surgery. Cosmetic surgery involving tummy tuck or facelift are some examples of Cosmetic surgery.

It’s believed that around 600 B.C Sushrat laid the foundation of plastic surgery. He was an Indian one of the oldest physicians and practitioners of Plastic surgery and laid down the procedures for performing surgeries. His book Sushrat Samhita is considered amongst the oldest books in the field of plastic surgery.

Charaka wrote Charaka-Samhita which contains the whole science of Ayurveda and nothing was mentioned about plastic surgery. He is known as the father of Ayurveda. So, Charaka option (A) is not true.

Acharya Kanada was an Indian natural scientist and philosopher who laid the foundations of atomic theory with an approach to physics. So Acharya Kanada is also not the correct option.

Patanjali laid the foundations of “Practice of yoga” which doesn't contain any science of plastic surgery, Patanjali is also an incorrect option.

So, Sushrat was known as the father of plastic surgery. Hence, the correct option is (B) Sushrat.

Note: The Sushruta-Samhita is a widely written text of Sushrat which contains about 184 chapters that involve knowledge of about 700 medicinal plants,1120 illnesses. This text involves techniques of tooth extraction, probing and many other fundamental surgeries of medical science like removal of the prostate gland and management of intestinal obstruction.