Article ID: CBB001420786

A History of Depressed Skull Fractures from Ancient Times to 1800 (2014)

unapi

The story of managing depressed fractures illustrates how knowledge of proven value does not always get handed down. Celsus was the first to describe sensible management for depressed fractures. As he wrote in Latin this was forgotten. Galen's Greek writings survived forming the basis of management until the sixteenth century. In 1517, Hans von Gersdorff published a formidable illustrated surgical text. One illustration depicts an instrument for elevating depressed bone fragments. It looked dramatic but could not work and its defects were finally defined in the eighteenth century. Ambroise Paré used a bone punch just as we do today, but no later surgeon mentions this, though the instrument was well known. Elements of chance, fashion, emotionally powerful illustrations, and perhaps stubbornness had a profound effect on management delaying rational treatment for centuries.

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Authors & Contributors
Gaille, Marie
Astemir Shaikhaliev
Alexander Pankratov
Smith, C. U. M.
Sledzik, Paul
Reznick, Jeffrey
Concepts
Surgery
Medicine
Medicine, general histories
Bone and bones
Surgical techniques
Injuries
Time Periods
Ancient
Renaissance
Medieval
16th century
Early modern
20th century
Places
Rome (Italy)
Greece
Washington, D. C. (U.S.)
London (England)
Italy
France
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