Surgery

• Medieval Surgery was Painful because:

  • Surgeons were fast as they didn't know what they were doing, causing many people to lose blood during surgery.
  • Wriggling patients as they were still awake and conscious.
  • No anaesthetics.
  • Many died of shock through having no anaesthetics.
• Infection

  • Dirty is good.
  • Pus is good.
  • No germs.
  • No antiseptics.
• Bleeding

  • Cauterise or tie.
  • No blood transfusions.
  • Die from blood loss.
• Blood Letting: Restore humours to the body.
• Amputation: Cutting off a damaged part of the body.
• Trepanning: Epilepsy believed to be caused by demons inside the brain. Cured by drilling a hole in the skull to let the demon out.
• Cauterisation: Common method of stopping blood flow by burning the wound with heated metal.
• Common tools included saws for amputation, arrow pullers, cautery irons and blood letting knives.
• John of Arderne

  • Trained as a surgeon in London.
  • Famous for >50% survival rate of removal of growths.
  • Surgeon on battlefield.
  • Developed own pain killing ointment.
  • Made from hemlock, opium, henbane.
  • Wrote book - Practice of surgery.
  • Challenged Galen
  • Charged the rich, treated the poor for free.