History of Department | Department of Operative Techniques and Surgical Research

Designations
1951-1953 Institute of Topological Anatomy and Operative Techniques
1953-1972 Institute of Surgical Anatomy and Operative Techniques
1972-2000 Department of Experimental Surgery
2000-2004 Department of Operative Techniques and Surgical Research
2004-2006 2nd Clinic of Surgery, Department of Operative Techniques and
                     Surgical Research
2006-2020    Institute of Surgery, Department of Operative Techniques and
                     Surgical Research
2020-            Department of Operative Techniques and Surgical Research

Heads of the department

1951-1952 Dénes Nagy                             associate professor

1952-1986 György Bornemisza               associate professor (1952-1972)
 full professor(1972-1986)

1986-2000 István Furka                           associate professor (1986-1989)
  full professor (1989-2000)

2000-2013 Irén Mikó                                associate professor (2000-2005)
 full professor (2005-2013)

2013-   Norbert Németh                            associate professor (2013-2018)
                                                                 full professor (2018-)

The institute was established in the 1951/52 academic year by the Ministry of Health Decree 3040/P/12/1951 of 29 November 1951. II.1. (entry into force on 1 December 1951), with the aim of enabling students to acquire the basic knowledge of anatomy and surgical techniques, which cannot be taught in the clinical practice on patients.

The first head of the department was Dénes Nagy, associate professor, Kossuth Prize-winner until 1952. After that, the head of the department was György Bornemisza, first as an associate professor, and from 1972 as a full professor. The institute was reorganized into Department of Experimental Surgery and besides research work its task was to teach basic surgical techniques.
After the retirement of Professor Bornemisza in 1986, the department continued and expanded its previous activities under the leadership of Prof. István Furka. The infrastructure and area of the department had been significantly expanded. Unit ‘A’ operated until 2010 in the 1st clinical campus and involved the Microsurgical Education and Training Centre, medical rooms, a library and the secretariat. In the 2nd clinical campus there was a larger Unit “B”, on its ground floor with the animal house, that involved pre- and postoperative rooms, laboratories, upstairs operating rooms and the Laparoscopic Education and Training Centre, which had been operating since 1992.

In 1998 a significant expansion took place in the Unit “B” of the department, involving the design of a multifunctional seminar room and the renovation of the operating rooms, creating bilateral connection with the seminar room. A new research laboratory and a studio were set up, the latter to serve the growing educational activity. Under the chairmanship of Professor Furka the Committee of Animal Welfare of the University of Debrecen has been operating in the department since 1999. Its task is to control and authorize the animal experiments at the university in accordance with European standards and the Hungarian Animal Welfare Act (1998 / XXVIII.).

Between 2000 and 2013 Prof. Irén Mikó was the head of the department. She “inherited” an education system that had been developed and implemented together with the former head for many years. Her aim was to refine and update the existing curriculum. Due to the appearance of new surgical techniques, tools and instruments, the educational material was updated and modernized. The development of the infrastructure was also required, which involved the renovation of the training and seminar rooms, the installation of a video-conferencing system, the purchase of modern surgical training models and the implementation of biomodels to support the education. The department joined the 2nd Clinic of Surgery in 2004 (with independent management), afterwards in 2006 it became an independent department of the Institute of Surgery which was established by merging the 1st and 2nd Clinics of Surgery. In November 2010, the new building “A” was established, close to the building “B” of the department at the 2nd clinical site. All this meant another expansion of the area of the department.

From July 1, 2013, the head of the department is Prof. Norbert Németh. Under his leadership the education activity has been further expanded, new subjects and courses have been introduced. The number of research connections and clinical cooperation projects increased and widened. Another significant expansion of infrastructure and equipment could be realized due to the EFOP-4.2.1-16-2017-00015 “Development of the higher education infrastructure of the University of Debrecen in order to renew practical and professional training” and EFOP-4.2.2-16-2017-00001 “Development of Skill Laboratories” grants. As part of the development, the building "A" of the department had been expanded, and the building "B" had been completely renovated, modernized and enlarged. In 2020, the Department of Operative Techniques and Surgical Research became a separate department again, and augmented by integrating the Center for Medical Simulation of the Faculty of Medicine, as a part of the department.

Since the establishment of the department the core element of the EDUCATION is the practical training, considering that development of the manual skills is essential in the operative medicine. From the foundation of the department until 1972 one lecture and two practices per week were given for 4th year medical students in both semesters. Between 1972 and 1985 the 3rd and 4th year students participated in basic surgical techniques education during two semesters in the framework of Surgery subject. Between 1985 and 1989 “Basics of Surgery” practical course was held for 3rd and 4th year medical and dentistry students in 2-week blocks with a limited program. From 1990 to 2007 medical students of the Hungarian and English programs were provided with 10 hours of theoretical and 30 hours of practical education within the compulsory “Basic Surgical Techniques” course, while dentistry students received 3 theoretical and 12 practical hours. For medical students it increased to 15 weeks with 15 lectures and 30 practices from the 2007/2008 academic year.

From the 2018/2019 academic year the “Basic Surgical Techniques” compulsory course involves 14 lectures and 28 practices for 3rd-year Hungarian and English students of Faculty of Medicine and 5 lectures and 13 practices for students of Faculty of Dentistry. For students of Faculty of Pharmacy “Basic Knowledge of Surgical Biomaterials” required elective course is available (initially with 15 lectures and 30 practices, from 2008 with 8 lectures and 24 seminars/practices). For the Biomedical Laboratory Analyst Program of the Faculty of Medicine a compulsory course entitled “Basics of Animal Experimentation” (14 lectures, 28 practices) was introduced in 2007, and “Rheology of the blood and lymphatic circulation” (15 lectures, 15 practices) in 2013. The required elective courses “Surgical Operative Techniques” (12 hours), “Basics Microsurgical Training” (12 hours) and “Basic Laparoscopic Surgical Training” (20 hours) courses are very popular. They were launched in 1995 as freely chosen ones, but since then they had become required elective courses. They are announced for both the Hungarian and English Program. In 2007 a freely chosen elective course entitled “Basics of Haemorheology” (10 hours), and in 2012 a required elective course “Surgical biomaterials” (12 hours) was launched, both in Hungarian and English. “Advanced Surgical Operative Techniques” (24 hours) required elective course started in the 2013/2014 academic year. From the 2018/2019 academic year the Hungarian language "History of Medicine" (26 hours) required elective course was assigned to the department (accompanied by the extension of the topics). Its English equivalent started from the 2019/2020 academic year. “Surgical anatomy – selected chapters” (24 hours) required elective course was set up in the 2020/2021 academic year.

There is also significant teaching work in the field of the postgraduate education. The compulsory basic surgical training course for residents of operative professions were held in 1999-2002 with a 2-week program, in 2004-2014 with a 3-week program, and from 2014 with a 4-week program entitled “Surgical skill training”, including basic surgical, microsurgical and laparoscopic practice modules. Through the consortium collaboration of the operative techniques institutes of the three rural universities a successful EU tender, entitled HEFOP-3.3.1-P.-2004-09-0040 / 1.0 “Basic and vocational training system for surgical practice” was awarded for the 2005-2006. period. Thanks to this, the instrumentation of the training places for teaching minimally invasive surgical techniques (laparoscopy, microsurgery) was developed, and the teaching material was simultaneously standardized at each institute. The most popular of the accredited medical training programs are the 80-hour “Basic Microsurgical Training. Introduction to Microsurgery”, the 40-hour “Advanced Microsurgical Training” and the 8-hour “Special Laparoscopic Surgical Interventions” courses. The department offers 5 different PhD courses to students of Doctoral Schools.

The educational work is supported by several lecture notes, video films and e-learning materials prepared at the department. In the last decade, the development of educational infrastructure and curriculum has been supported by several tenders (HEFOP-3.3.1-P.-2004-09-0040/1.0, TÁMOP-4.1.2.A/1-11/1-2011-0084, TIOP 1.3.3-08/2-2009-0002, TÁMOP-4.1.1.C-13/1/KONV-2014-0001, EFOP-4.2.1-16-2017-00015 and EFOP-4.2.2- 16-2017-00001).

The Center for Medical Simulation, as a department serving education, provides space and tools for undergraduate and postgraduate simulation-type educational programs in several disciplines (https://medsim.unideb.hu).

The department also hosted the EU B-level 80-hour and the A-level 40-hour course “Laboratory Animal Science and Welfare” coordinated by the Animal Welfare Committee of the University of Debrecen.
 

RESEARCH In the first decades of the Institute/Department, the scientific work was mainly related to biocompatible plastics research, auto-alloplastic tissue replacements, and surgical aspects of experimental vascular surgery. Since 1955, the Institute also dealt with tissue preservation methods. Among the transplantology experiments, some issues of liver transplantation, pancreas transplantation and reperfusion have been previously addressed. Research on urogenital surgery has provided a strong profile to the Institute (e.g. venous regional renal hypothermia). Intensive research was also carried out in the field of parenchymal organ surgery (pancreatic and splenic surgery), and since the second half of the 1980s, the development of spleen-saving surgical procedures has been a prominent topic. The study of the interaction between surgical sutures and the body began about 40 years ago. By setting up an appropriate experimental model, a number of surgical solutions have been proposed for clinical practice in the field of surgery of abdominal parenchymal organs, as well as in neurosurgical, laparoscopic, and microsurgical procedures. The research work of the Department currently covers the following major topics: spleen-saving surgery (spleen resection, spleen autotransplantation), studies of the effect of ischemia-reperfusion on different models (limb, liver, kidney, intestine, skin-muscle flap, testis), in connection with vascular interventions also (vascular anastomoses, shunts with different localizations), microcirculatory and micro-rheological examinations of inflammatory processes (acute pancreatitis, sepsis, abdominal compartment syndrome), as well as comparative hemorheological investigations, methodological adaptation work. These studies were supported by several departmental and collaborative grants (OTKA, ETT, PFP, OMFB, GVOP, TéT, and Gábor Baross Program). Currently, the staffs of the Department participate in two GINOP grants. The most important international relations of the last 10 years: USA (San Diego, Los Angeles), Canada (Montreal), Brazil (Sao Paulo), China (Tianjin), Japan (Tokyo), Italy (Genoa), Romania (Timisoara), Sweden ( Gothenburg).

The Department and the predecessor Institute coordinated the defence of 4 „Candidate of Sciences" (CSc), 18 “Doctor of Philosophy” (PhD), and 3 "Doctor of Science" (DSc). Three of the Department’s academic staff was habilitated.

In the past decades, several important congresses have been organized, such as  Congresses of the Experimental Surgery Section of the Hungarian Society of Surgeons (the year 1967, 1975, 1983, 1991, 1997, 2005, 2013) and the World Congresses of the International Society for Experimental Microsurgery (ISEM) (2004, 2018). The secretary of the Clinical and Experimental Surgery Working Committee of the Debrecen Academic Committee has been provided by the Department for decades: until 1990 István Furka, until 2005 Irén Mikó, since 2005 Norbert Németh. Several senior staff members of the Department have held or are currently holding senior positions in scientific societies (Hungarian Surgical Society, HSS Experimental Surgery Section, HSS Endoscopic Surgery Section, Hungarian Haemorheological Society, Hungarian Society for Laboratory Animal Science, European Society for Surgical Research, International Society for Experimental Microsurgery, International Society for Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation), and in the editorial board of scientific journals (most notably:  Acta Chirurgica Hungarica, Hungarian Surgery, Journal of Investigative Surgery, Microsurgery, Annals of Plastic Surgery, Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, Acta Cirurgica Brasileira).

Between 1997-2013 several books on the history, past, and present activities of the Department have been published. At the Department in recent decades Professors István Furka and Irén Mikó have established new exhibition spaces and rooms of surgical suture, instrument, and educational history; in recent years these exhibitions also expanded.  These exhibitions, which are of unique value both nationally and internationally as follows: Museum of Surgical Suture Materials (1987-), Extra Gallery (1992-) presenting the works of contemporary artists of the County, the Surgical Staplers’ Museum (2010-), the  Sun Lee Microsurgical Museum  (2010-) and the Janos Veres Memorial Place (2012- ).