Microsurgery: Through the Looking Glass

MICROSURGERY may be broadly defined as surgery performed under the magnification provided by an operating microscope.1 Although Nylén used a simple monocular microscope in patients in 1921, microsurgical technics have only been employed in most surgical specialties within the past two decades.2 The initial proponents of microsurgery were otolaryngologists who found magnification essential for operating within the restrictive (1 cm2) confines of the middle ear. Subsequently, ophthalmologists became dependent on microsurgical technics for repair and reconstruction of deformities within the eye's anterior chamber.3 In the 1960's, Jacobson4 , 5 used microscopical technics to repair blood vessels less than 2 mm in . . .