Surgery was done using a scalpel. This would make a large incision to access a person’s internal organs or tissues. Anytime the body is opened there is a risk of infection from unsterilized equipment, ruptured organs, and even infection after surgery. In the 1940s, Dr. Dotter created a specialty called Interventional Radiology, which used a tiny pinhole instead of open surgery. Doctors could use x-rays and other imaging to see inside the body while they treated a disease. This changed all of medicine. Today, minimally invasive, image-guided procedures are used to treat a broad range of diseases throughout the body. These include heart conditions, breast cancer, colon cancer, and brain disorders, among others.

National Without a Scalpel Day is celebrated on January 16th each year.

On this day in 1964, pioneering physician Charles Dotter performed the first angioplasty.