The history of surgery can be traced back to the distant Neolithic Age. With the evolution of time, surgery developed rapidly, which in turn spurred the development of aseptic techniques and sterilization methods. In the 19th century, anesthesiology was born, and the first surgery under anesthesia was performed in 1846 by an American dentist. Although the procedure took place in a library classroom, and no one wore a white coat, this truly marked the beginning of the operating room's history. The Evolution of the Operating Room: The first generation of operating rooms is known as the Genesis Simple Operating Room. As medicine progressed, in 1886, the development of bacteriology and the invention of steam sterilization; in 1887, the handwashing method during surgery was established; in 1897, masks began to be used during surgery; and in 1898, surgical gowns began to be used-all over 100 years old.
In 20th-century Europe, hospitals began to have separate operating rooms in their various wards, marking the beginning of the second generation of operating rooms, which we call the Pavilion Type. In 1937, the Paris World's Fair was held, and the modern operating room was formally established during that period.
In the mid-20th century, hospital wards began to be centralized, and operating rooms entered their third era: the Central Type Operating Room (OPR). In 1955, the Central Type Operating Department of the University of Tokyo officially opened, marking the beginning of centralized operating rooms in Japan; in 1963, the centrally supplied operating room layout was developed in the United States; in 1966, the world's first laminar flow clean operating room was established at Barton Memorial Hospital in the United States; and in 1969, the operating room layout recommended by the British Department of Health was the prototype of the widely used waste collection type.