Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1632) is considered a masterpiece and is a group portrait of the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons in the form of an anatomy lesson. Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, Doctor of Medicine and Praelector Anatomiae to the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons, showed an anatomic dissection of a forearm on the corpse of an executed criminal. The anatomic accuracy in Rembrandt’s...

Introduction Injection is an essential procedure in medicine, let alone in hand surgery. It entails the insertion of a sharp pointed hollow needle into the body for 2 reasons. Firstly, to retrieve tissue samples from the body and secondly, for the delivery of substances into the body. Injection is thus meant for either diagnostic, therapeutic or both purposes. Injection provides the hand surgeo...

Unassisted hand surgery is being undertaken by necessity for both elective and emergency cases, due to hospital resource restrictions. The authors outline the principles of local anesthesia, surgeon-controlled tourniquet techniques, and a number of new instruments which allow a surgeon to work in comfort and safety, unassisted. The traditional surgical instruments designed for the days when tra...