Approaches to surgery in the Ancient World Flashcards
I forgot to include these in the first one
How skilled were the Ancient Greeks at surgery?
The Greeks became masters of first aid and setting broken bones. We have no evidence though that they operated inside of the body.
How skilled were the Ancient Romans at surgery?
Masters of first aid + could do some sophisticated procedures e.g. removing lumps (goitures) from the neck.
What did the Ancient Romans develop for the first time in history?
They developed the first ever C-Section for removing babies from the womb.
Why were there limits to surgery in Ancient Greece and Rome?
- No real anaesthetics, only herbal ones; operations were difficult to complete
- Roman govt. banned dissections of the human body, so it was difficult for them to develop accurate knowledge of the human anatomy.
Examples of Ancient Greek and Roman surgical operations
- Cure a slipped disc in a patient’s back by standing on them.
- Relocate a dislocated shoulder.
- Trepanning a patient’s skull to relieve pressure.
What did Galen discover in terms of human anatomy?
Discovered some detail of how the human body worked, for e.g. how the nervous system takes messages from the brain to the muscles.
Why were most of Galen’s developments wrong?
Many of his observations of the human anatomy were wrong as he relied on doing dissections on animals, rather than human corpses.
How skilled were the Ancient Egyptians at surgery?
Became experts in bandaging and developed small and crafted surgical instruments for carrying out surface operations.
Example of Ancient Egyptian surface operation
Successfully removing cataracts from the eyes of patients.
Why did the Ancient Egyptians only carry out surface operations?
They believed it would have angered God to carry out operations too deep into the body.
