# How did modern eye surgery come to be?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-modern-eye-surgery-come-to-be/785010>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 22, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-modern-eye-surgery-come-to-be/785010 "2017-04-22T18:40:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![femmejean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/0ea827/32.png) [@femmejean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femmejean)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-modern-eye-surgery-come-to-be/785010/1 "2017-04-22T18:40:58Z")

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I wonder how many humans suffered retinal detachments among extreme pain before modern medicine reached a proficient standard.

Observing ‘red eye removal’ [Pinguecula Removal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cm6OBwoXiA) and vitrectomy surgeries along the complex details along with chemicals needed to perform these surgeries, how did experimentation ever create this?

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**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-modern-eye-surgery-come-to-be/785010/2 "2017-04-22T20:10:07Z")

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The only thing I know for sure is that most (maybe all) complex surgical procedures are discovered by a surgeon reasoning how it might work, then experimenting with animals until it is perfected. Then they finally try it on humans, perhaps people who are desperate. I remember the first heart transplant. The guy didn’t survive very long, but he had serious heart failure and wouldn’t have lived very long in any case. After many years and many thousands of operations (and the development of anti-rejection drugs) it has become almost routine. But first they did it with dogs. Any claim that animal experimentation can be effectively replaced is a lie.

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**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-modern-eye-surgery-come-to-be/785010/3 "2017-04-22T22:14:10Z")

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I am not sure if it is the same in the USA, but in the UK it takes forever to get a new drug through all the stages of approval, but a surgeon can try a new procedure with little or no prior approval by anyone.

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**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-modern-eye-surgery-come-to-be/785010/4 "2017-04-22T22:50:49Z")

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> [@bob\_2](#):
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> … but a surgeon can try a new procedure with little or no prior approval by anyone.

Except the patient – their approval is always required by any ethical surgeon.

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**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-modern-eye-surgery-come-to-be/785010/5 "2017-04-22T23:14:51Z")

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Patient approval and/or informed consent is actually a surprisingly recent innovation in medicine…

But yes, currently, that is the way it is supposed to be.