The History of Mastectomy

Abstract

The mastectomy that is performed today is a procedure born from hundreds of years of discoveries, inventions, and amendments to existing surgical techniques. The reasons for performing this extreme surgery have changed as well, ranging from unilateral breast removal to allow greater upper limb functionality to bilateral removal of the breasts or breast tissue in individuals predisposed to breast cancer or in individuals who have already been diagnosed. The additions of surgical tools and anesthetics to the field of medicine further transformed the surgical field in general and had a large impact on the mastectomy. William Halsted's radical mastectomy served as the basis of most future breast removal techniques, and it the method recognized today as the “radical mastectomy.” Most radical surgeries are currently used for prophylaxis, whereas less invasive lumpectomies have eclipsed breast removal surgeries as of the latter half of the 20th century.