Harefuah
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The first descriptions of tracheostomy appear in old Hindu scripts around 2000 BC and Egyptian documents around 1500 BC. Since then, other reports in animals and humans established the tracheostomy as a life saving procedure. Vesalius in 1543 reported the first tracheal intubation in an animal. ⋯ In 1913 the first anesthetic laryngoscope was invented by Jackson and modified by the Magill, Miller and Macintosh. In 1942, curare was introduced as a muscle relaxant for abdominal relaxation during general anesthesia and endotracheal intubation became routine in major abdominal and other surgeries. The article also reviews the Israeli contribution to the development of tracheostomy.