HISTORY OF RHINOLOGY IN NORTH-AMERICA

The history of rhinology is the story of the efforts of men and women who have tried to help patients who have nasal and sinus disorders or other conditions thought to be related to the nose or sinuses. Woven t hrough this story are the subplots of the progress of surgical technol ogy the understanding of anatomy and physiology, and the hit-or-miss r elationship between them. Through the last half of the nineteenth cent ury, great strides were made in understanding nasal and sinus anatomy and physiology. As that century ended and as the twentieth century beg an, there was a surge of technology that allowed a marked increase in the type and number of surgeries performed. Unfortunately, nasal and s inus surgery holds the awesome potential to promote health or to sever ely hurt someone. The knowledge of nasal physiology and anatomy had be en exceeded, and often those operations were not in the patient's best interest. Through the middle of the twentieth century the basic scien ce knowledge seems to have caught up with the care being provided, but as the end of the century approaches, another tide of surgical activi ty seems to be upon us, Perhaps in no other area of surgery has this d isparity between biologic knowledge and surgical activity been so well demonstrated. Perhaps the next 100 years will witness a better coordi nation of these activities.