Surgery- 2,500 Years Ago !

Makes you glad how far medicine has come and grateful for the technology we have today.
 
I think it was the Mayans who were using obsidian knives for similar work. I read some time back that ophalmic surgeons were using obsidian because it cut so cleanly. There were some amazing skills, learned by trial, error and dumb luck. I can appreciate that, but prefer the era of Xrays and MRIs...
 
Pier23 said:
I think it was the Mayans who were using obsidian knives for similar work. I read some time back that ophalmic surgeons were using obsidian because it cut so cleanly. There were some amazing skills, learned by trial, error and dumb luck. I can appreciate that, but prefer the era of Xrays and MRIs...
Click to expand...

I think you're right about the Mayans but they did it to "let the demon out", IIRC.
 
Not all the time. I have read of excavations where they found shulls that were trephanned (sp) with indications the patient lived many years longer. Apparently all these patients, however, were deemed to have early onset dimentia because they kept complaining that they had ideas, but their thoughts kept escaping.

And remember that scene in "Master and Commander" in which the surgeon was removing fractured skull from a sailor and patched the hole with a coin? That guy lived too. <ggggg>

Jump ahead a bit, and there was a fascinating book on the mouth cancer surgery of Grover Cleveland, so now we are early 1900s. This was done in 90 minutes on the presidential yacht with The Prez tipped babk in a chair. A chunk of the roof of the mouth of Cleveland's was removed, a rubber prosthetic was later fitted, and no one ever knew what happened.
 
Pier23 said:
Not all the time. I have read of excavations where they found shulls that were trephanned (sp) with indications the patient lived many years longer. Apparently all these patients, however, were deemed to have early onset dimentia because they kept complaining that they had ideas, but their thoughts kept escaping.

And remember that scene in "Master and Commander" in which the surgeon was removing fractured skull from a sailor and patched the hole with a coin? That guy lived too. <ggggg>

Jump ahead a bit, and there was a fascinating book on the mouth cancer surgery of Grover Cleveland, so now we are early 1900s. This was done in 90 minutes on the presidential yacht with The Prez tipped babk in a chair. A chunk of the roof of the mouth of Cleveland's was removed, a rubber prosthetic was later fitted, and no one ever knew what happened.
Click to expand...

I'm sure there were a few mistakes. :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top