It is good that new ideas should be heard, for the sake of the few that can be used; but it is also good that new ideas should be compelled to go through the mill of objection, opposition, and contumely; this is the trial heat which innovations must survive before being allowed to enter the human race. It is good that the old should resist the young, and that the young should prod the old; out of this tension, as out of strife of the sexes and the classes, comes a creative tensile strength, a stimulated development, a secret and basic unity and movement of the whole. By Will and Ariel Durant [ 1 ] The history of the surgical treatment of anorectal malformations is a representative sample of the history and evolution of medicine. It took many centuries for medicine and surgery to become scientific disciplines. Even in current days, the practice of medicine and surgery has a great element of art.

NCBI Bookshelf. Meenakshi Singh ; Kashish Mehra. Authors Meenakshi Singh 1 ; Kashish Mehra 2. ARMs comprise of a broad spectrum of defects ranging from minor e.

Anorectal malformations ARMS are one of those challenging topics of pediatric surgery. The aim of this study is to present the attitude of a surgeon of eighteenth century to the treatment of anorectal malformations, and the evolution in the history of the anomaly. The part about imperforate anus in a textbook of surgery, found in a second-hand bookstore, was translated. The description and the classification of the anomaly, the methods of approaching these cases together with some case reports were presented and compared with today's practice. The historical background of the anomaly was evaluated not only with regard to the book of Heister specifically but also to the other data obtained in the literature.

Imperforate anus is a defect in which the opening to the anus is missing or blocked. The anus is the opening to the rectum through which stools leave the body. This is present from birth congenital. It is caused by abnormal development of the fetus. Many forms of imperforate anus occur with other birth defects.