Etymology
Surgicals are items that are associated with surgery in some way or another. The term 'Surgery' derives its name from the Greek word Cheirourgen - pronounced as chirurgical (working by hand).

An Overview of Surgery
Just hearing the word 'Surgery' tends to send a chill down the listener's spine as it is almost always associated with an operation theatre, anesthesia, post-operative pain, and a morbid fear of complications or death. However, the truth is that surgery has revolutionized medicine and increased the life span of so many patients who would have otherwise succumbed to their acute emergencies. With rapid advances in modern medicine and medical technologies, surgeries have become relatively safer. Super specializations in the field of surgery have further improved the quality of surgical procedures and the equipment used in them so as to yield more predictable and favorable outcomes.

Is Surgery always necessary?
Most people including even the allopathic physicians are not aware that many so called surgical conditions are amenable to treatment by alternative systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Electro-homeopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Chinese medicine. Naturopathy along with the practice of Yoga has yielded miraculous cures in a number of cases. Acupuncture and Acupressure also have the ability to open up blocked energy channels of the body so as to facilitate healing. Some examples of such pseudo-surgical diseases are warts, polyps, tonsillitis, chronic appendicitis, hemorrhoids, fissures, fistulas, gallstones, kidney stones, abscesses, etc.
Therefore, in such cases, it is always advisable to try the alternative systems of medicine first before undergoing surgery. It must be borne in mind that every form of surgery, howsoever simple, is invasive in nature and can produce its share of complications. Hence, the doctors must use their discretion in selecting a patient for surgery or allowing a trial with alternative treatment options.

Types of Surgicals
Surgicals can be classified on the basis of the field of surgery that they are meant for (General Surgery, Ophthalmology, Urology, Gynecology & Obstetrics, Orthopedics), the type of the item (needles, forceps, scissors, masks, catgut, catheters, speculums), their function (clamping, grasping, cutting, retracting, stapling, suturing, curetting), and their purpose (diagnostics, clinical accessories, infection control and protection devices, draping and dressing supplies).