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Medieval Surgery

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Surgery in Medieval Times

In the medieval times, surgery was rudimentary and dangerous. Few patients survived surgery. There were 3 main problems with surgery in medieval times:

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Pain

  • Surgery was excruciatingly (very very) painful.
  • No anaesthetics existed and only natural anaesthetics (like hemlock or opium) existed to numb the pain.
  • Natural anaesthetics were dangerous because high doses could kill the patient.
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Infection

  • There was a very limited understanding of what causes diseases and infections.
  • Nobody had discovered the link between dirt and disease and many doctors believed that pus in wounds helped a patient to recover.
    • Many people died from infections after surgery.
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Blood loss

  • Patients often lost a lot of blood in surgery.
  • There were not blood transfusions or anything similar.
  • Blood loss could also be fatal.

Common Surgical Processes

Surgery was not a respected job in medieval Europe. Lots of surgery was performed by barber surgeons. Some military surgeons learned skills to treat wounded soldiers on the battlefield. The most common surgical procedures were:

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Bloodletting

  • Unlike doctors, there was little formal training for surgeons.
    • Training was through apprenticeship.
  • Surgeons performed bloodletting when humours were imbalanced. By removing blood, it was believed a patient would become healthy again.
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Amputation

  • An amputation was when a surgeon cut off a body part.
    • This was often needed if a body part was painful or infected through wounds.
  • Given the scale of blood loss, amputations were very dangerous.
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Trepanning

  • Trepanning was when a surgeon would make a drill hole into a human’s skull.
  • Surgeons used trepanning if patients were acting abnormally.
    • This included being possessed by bad spirits, having a mental illness or suffering from epilepsy.
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Cauterisation

  • Cauterisation was when surgeons burned a wound to stop blood flow or close up an amputated wound.

Medieval Progress in Surgery

There were developments in surgical procedures in the Medieval period:

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Albucasis

  • In the 11th century, Albucasis, the Islamic physician wrote Al Tasrif, this was a 30-volume book on medicine.
    • He also invented surgical instruments and popularised cauterisation.
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Hugh of Lucca

  • In the 13th century, Hugh of Lucca argued that pus was bad for a wound.
    • He began to use wine to disinfect wounds.
  • However, he did not succeed in overturning the dominant idea that pus was necessary for wounds to heal.
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Mondino de Luzzi

  • In the 14th century, Mondino de Luzzi pioneered anatomy.
    • He popularised dissection and wrote Anathomia which dominated medicine until the 16th century.
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John of Arderne

  • Remembered as one of the most famous surgeons in Medieval England, John of Arderne established the ‘Guild of Surgeons’ in 1368.
  • He based his book, Practica, on his experiences in the war with France and his knowledge of Ancient Greek and Arab medicine.
  • Arderne created his own forms of painkillers from substances such as opium.

Jump to other topics

1Medicine in Medieval England

2The Medical Renaissance in England

3Medicine in 18th & 19th Century Britain

4Medicine in Modern Britain

5Treatment in WW1

6Themes in Medicine

7Some Extra Context (Not Compulsory for Exam)

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