The Department of Surgical Diseases was established in 1976. Thirteen years later, the Department of Propaedeutics of Surgical Diseases, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology as well as the Department of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation were established. At present, the structure of the department includes the Second Surgical Clinic of Pediatric Surgery with the Department of Plastic Surgery as well as the Third Surgical Clinic with the Department of Vascular and Chest Surgery. Two of the Assistant Professors from the department work in the Gall-liver surgery clinic, one in the Infertility-septic surgery clinic, one in the Plastic surgery department and one in the Vascular surgery department. There are also three Assistant Professors in Children's surgery. The first Head of the Department was Prof. St. Baev. After him, consecutively, Heads of the Department were: Professor Al. Gurovski, Assoc. Prof. M. Panov, Assoc. Prof. Zhelyazkov, Assoc. Prof. K. Ignatov.

The research team consists of two Associate Professors and eight Assistant Professors. Up until the moment of writing, members of the Department have defended twenty dissertation papers for Doctoral degree and six for Doctor of Sciences.

The main areas of research in the department are: complications of acute appendicitis in children and adults; modern treatment of peritonitis; complications of ulcerative disease; pathophysiological changes during ileus; thyroid diseases; piroduodendal obstruction; acute pancreatitis; diseases of the colon; lung and chest wall pathology; acute and chronic arterial insufficiency. Every associate expert at the department have specialized in elite medical institutes in Bulgaria and abroad - Germany, Russia, Sweden, England, Belgium, Turkey, Greece and others. For years, the department has been conducting research with international teams to introduce new antibiotics, analgesics and low-molecular anticoagulants.