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Definition

Microsurgery is surgery that is performed on very small structures, such as blood vessels and nerves, with specialized instruments under a microscope.

Purpose

Microsurgical procedures are performed on parts of the body that are best visualized under a microscope. Examples of such structures are small blood vessels, nerves, and tubes. Microsurgery uses techniques that have been performed by surgeons since the early twentieth century, such as blood vessel repair and organ transplantation, but under conditions that make traditional vascular surgery difficult or impossible.

The first microvascular surgery, using a microscope to aid in the repair of blood vessels, was described by Jules Jacobson of the...