It was founded in 1920 by Professor Dmitry Dmitrievich Pletnev, who became his first Editor in Chief. He was awarded diplomas of the I degree in 1968, 1975 and 1990, Certificate of Honor in 1995, Badge of Merit “Golden Press Fund” in 2006. The works of prominent surgeons, Nikolai Nilovich Burdenko, Sergey Sergeyevich Yudin, AlexanderVasilyevich and Alexander Alexandrovich Vishnevsky, Alexander Vasilyevich Martynov, Boris Vasilyevich Petrovsky and others, physicians - Georgiy Fedorovich Lang, Maxim Petrovich Konchalovsky, Nikolai Dmitrievich Strazhesko, Alexander Leonidovich Myasnikov,  Iosif Abramovich Kassirsky, Boris Evgeniyevich Votchal, Evgeniy Vladislavovich Gembitsky and many others, morphologists - Donat Semenovich Sarkisov, Vladimir Vladimirovich Serov, were published in the journal.

It is included in the list of scientific and scientific-technical publications of the Russian Federation, recommended for publication of the results of candidate and doctoral dissertation researches. The editorial board of the journal includes 7 academicians and 4 corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences.