ORIGIN OF LAPAROSCOPY - COINCIDENCE OR SURGICAL INTERDISCIPLINARY THOUGHT

The history of laparoscopy illustrates the interaction between the man y areas of medicine and technology; in fact, the development of that t echnique is a cummulative effort of internists, gynecologists, and sur geons. At the beginning of our century, however, neither group was par ticularly open to the idea of scholarly exchange. In this respect, an early pioneer of laparoscopy, Georg Kelling (1866-1945) of Dresden and the story surrounding the invention of the laparoscopy are interestin g exceptions. Although Kelling regarded himself a surgeon, he devoted a great deal of energy to the development of ''nonsurgical'' methods o f treatment. He spent a great part of his life determining stomach cap acity, constructing a semiflexible tube endoscope (straightened after the insertion), and attempting to alleviate gastrointestinal bleeding by means of high-pressure pneumoperitoneum (lufttamponade). To observe the effects of insufflation on abdominal organs, Kelling introduced a cystoscope into the abdominal cavity. In fact, the invention of ''cel ioscopy'' or laparoscopy (1901) can be called a synthesis of Kelling's work with insufflation and his fascination with endoscopy.