ABSTRACT
Surgery is based upon a basic inherent conict. e Hippocratic Oath commands surgeons to abstain from whatever causes harm to the patient; yet the essence of surgery is to invade the body, and thereby inict injury, to achieve a therapeutic eect. e majority of surgical research has focused upon techniques that alter the balance between improving the outcome for a patient suering from disease and minimizing the mortality and morbidity attendant to the therapeutic act.
