1890, Kyiv: Sapezhko takes lining from inside a patient’s cheek and uses it to reconstruct a damaged urethra.
It works. Then the idea vanishes for decades.
Why?
The “adjacent possible” wasn’t ready.
Today buccal mucosa grafts robotic allows complex ureteral reconstruction with no bowel harvest, no lifelong stents, excellent results.
I was lucky to help pioneer the robotic version
@nyulangone w
@mdstifelman. & link with
@md_eun @ZLeeGU to validate the technique.
This is how real surgical innovation works: not leaps of faith, but just walking through doors as they slowly open.
The full story 👇
leezhaomd.org/post/the-adjac…