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Paul of Aegina's surgical instruments: a complete surgical instrumentarium in the seventh century AD
Author(s) -
Papadakis Marios,
de Bree Eelco,
Trompoukis Constantinos,
Manios Andreas
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
anz journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.426
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-2197
pISSN - 1445-1433
DOI - 10.1111/ans.13027
Subject(s) - medicine , surgical instrument , surgical procedures , instrumentation (computer programming) , surgery , computer science , operating system
Background Although current progress in surgical instruments is oriented towards stapler devices, minimally invasive instrumentation and advanced cautery tools, it definitely seems intriguing to determine what instruments were used in antiquity and to appraise their use. Most adequate information can be retrieved from manuscripts of early medical authors, of whom Paul of Aegina ( AD 625–690), also being a most important surgeon, is the most recent. The aim of this study is to present surgical instruments used in his practice. Methods Surgical instruments mentioned in the original Greek text of his monumental work named E pitome of M edicine were sought using computer software. Further, similar research was performed on other significant manuscripts of earlier Greek medical writers to determine whether some of the instruments were exclusively mentioned by Paul of Aegina. Results In total, 121 different surgical instruments were identified and described in detail in the E pitome of M edicine . Thirty‐three instruments (27%) were exclusively reported by Paul of Aegina. Conclusions In antiquity a large number of surgical instruments were already being used. Paul of Aegina described in detail a large variety of fine, as well as a substantial number of, original surgical instruments, which he himself used in a wide spectrum of surgical operations.