Emerging Indications in Stereotactic Radiosurgery: The First Application of Cellular Surgery

We defined surgery as "definitive manipulation of an organ system or tissue to achieve a specific purpose, performed in a single-session, using energy.” (19) Historically, the most common energy source was mechanical. The surgeon simply moved his or her arm that held an instrument. Over the years, other forms of energy were used as a surgical effector. These included light energy (laser surgery), thermal energy (radiofrequency lesioning), chemical energy (tissue manipulation with alcohol or chymopapain), and radiation energy (stereotactic radiosurgery).