Islamic medicine notes

Limitations of medieval surgery

Medieval surgery was a risky business for the patient because surgeons...

• had no idea that dirt carried disease
• operated without effective painkillers
• could not help patients with deep wounds to the body
• sometimes thought pus in a wound was good.

Medieval surgical procedures:

• Bloodletting - frequently to balance the humours 
• Amputation - cutting off a painful or damaged part of the body
• Trepanning - drilling a hole in the skull to "let the demon out" eg for epilepsy
• Cauterisation - burning a wound to stop the flow of blood using heated iron
• Natural anaesthetics - mandrake root, opium and hemlock (too much kills patient)

Islamic Medicine

• 786-809 - Reign of the Caliph Huran Al Rashid: Bagdhad became a centre for translation of Greek manuscripts into Arabic.
• 805 - Al-Rashid sets up hospital with medical school and library
• 813-33 - Reign of Caliph al- Mamum…