There are surgeons who operate upon the ‘canine’ principle of savage attack, and the biting and tearing of tissues are terrible to witness. These are they who operate with one eye upon the clock, and who judge the beauty of any procedure by the fewness of the minutes which it has taken to complete. There are other surgeons who believe in the ‘light hand,” who use the utmost gentleness, and who deal lovingly with every tissue that they touch.

The scalpel is, indeed, an instrument of most precious use – in some hands a royal sceptre, in others but a rude mattock. The perfect surgeon must have the ‘heart of a lion and the hand of a lady’, never the claws of a lion and the heart of a sheep. An operation is done quick enough when it is done right.

Every movement should tell, every action should achieve something. A manipulation, if it requires to be carried out, should not be half done, and hesitatingly done. It should be deliberate, firm, intentional, and final. Infinite gentleness, scrupulous care, light handling, and purposeful, effective, quiet movements which are no more than a caress, are all necessary if an operation is to be the work of an artist, and not merely of a hewer of flesh.

Lord Berkley Moynihan

BBASS offers simple principles for good dissection. This depends on good assisting to provide the necessary traction and counter traction. Tissue planes are the avenues of progression for the surgeon, developed with the lightest of touches.