Neurosurgery is the surgical discipline focused on treating those central, peripheral
nervous system and spinal column diseases amenable to mechanical intervention.
"Brain surgery" is commonly used, much like rocket science, to refer to a
task requiring significant knowledge and skill.
Unearthed remains of
successful brain operations, as well as surgical implements, were found in France--
at one of Europe's noted archaeological digs.
And, the success rate
was remarkable, even circa 7,000 B.C.
But, pre-historic evidence of
brain surgery was not limited to Europe. Pre-Incan civilization used brain surgery
as an extensive practice as early as 2,000 B.C. In Paracas, Peru, a desert
strip south of Lima, archeologic evidence indicates that brain surgery was used
extensively. Here, too, an inordinate success rate was noted as patients were
restored to health. The treatment was used for mental illnesses, epilepsy, headaches,
organic diseases, osteomylitis, as well as head injuries.
Brain
surgery was also used for both spiritual and magical reasons; often, the practice
was limited to kings, priests and the nobility.
Surgical tools in South
America were made of both bronze and man-shaped obsidian (a hard, sharp-edged
volcanic rock).
Africa showed evidence of brain surgery as early
as 3,000 B.C. in papyrus writings found in Egypt. "Brain," the actual word itself,
is used here for the first time in any language. Egyptian knowledge of anatomy
may have been rudimentary, but the ancient civilization did contribute important
notations on the nervous system.
Hippocrates, the father of modern medical
ethics, left many texts on brain surgery. Born on the Aegean Island of Cos
in 470 B.C., Hippocrates was quite familiar with the clinical signs of head
injuries. He also described seizures accurately, as well as spasms and classified
head contusions, fractures and depressions. Many concepts found in his texts
were still in good stead two thousand years after his death in 360 B.C.
Ancient Rome in the first century A.D. had its brain surgeon star, Aulus Cornelius
Celsus. Hippocrates did not operate on depressed skull fractures; Celsus often
did. Celsus also described the symptoms of brain injury in great detail. |
