Surgery in ancient Rome

Charlatans and malpractice were common in ancient Rome, as any individual, regardless of their training or qualifications could practice medicine.

Drills would also be frequently dipped in water to reduce heat, which was supposed to limit the danger of the surgery.

[20] Bone levers were ancient steel tools shaped like rods with flattened and curved tips resembling stone cutters.

In one procedure for treating gangrene, a band was used to retract the skin to prevent the saw from tearing through the flesh.

Doctors believed it needed to be frequently removed from the skull and placed in cold water during an operation.

Trephines were used to saw the bone to the meninges thus treating injuries to young people's heads.

Cyathiscomeles were types of spathomeles with large nuclei and a plain or fluted shaft overlaid with silver.

A larger version of the ear probe, possibly with a slight enlargement at the ends, was used for treating wounds.

To treat this, they were typically fomented with warm water, or verdigris drenched in honey, leek juice, and niter in mead.

The scalpel had great flexibility and performed a wide variety of functions, such as tearing away muscle and tissue during amputation,[23][45][46] severing the umbilical cord, removing nasal polyps, mastectomies, making incisions, cutting through bone, and hernia repair.

[47] The rectal speculum also called the catopter was a dual-bladed surgical instrument in ancient Rome.

[52][53] It was a long bronze or iron tool with two hooks ending a curved scoop with a hole and a perforation.

[70] To treat pterygium it was raised with a sharp hook, then a needle with a flaxen thread and horsehair was passed under it.

[72] These hooks were smooth and had short points, which were inserted into the ears, eyes, mouths, and forehead to extract children.

Nasal syringes were made of two bronze or horn pipes that were used to inject liquids into the nostrils.

These cannulae had circles of small holes to prevent ascariasis, a disease caused by a parasitic roundworm.

One of these dissectors, which was stored in the National Archaeological Museum in France, was made of an ornamented handle with a small hook at one end.

[98][99] Another process involved putting a burning piece of cloth into the patient's mouth to draw out blood.

[104] Roman historians Suetonius and Pliny the Elder also record Julius Caesar as being born through a Caesarian section.

[107][108] According to Celsus' description of cataract surgery, surgeons would use their right hand to perform on the left eye, and vice versa.

[2] Following the cataract surgery, the patient would be treated with "soothing Medicants" and wool soaked in the white of the egg.

The patient would also exclusively drink water and abstain from solid food until they no longer had an inflammation, which was a side effect of the surgery.

[121] Another process involved using two blocks of wood to clamp the hemiscrotum, causing the sac to be inflamed, thus reducing its size.

[109] The ancient Romans had treatments for umbilical hernia, a medical condition in which the abdominal wall behind the navel is damaged.

[23] Flat chisels were used to cut away at overlying edges, and trepans were used to carve holes into interlocking bones.

He also mentions that after the surgery patients suffered from urinary retention, which is the inability to fully empty the bladder.

[136] The ancient Roman writer Aulus Gellius described a technique that functioned similarly to bariatric surgery.

There may have been medical specialists trained to perform dental procedures, it is also possible that dentistry was practiced as a subset of other professions, such as barbery.

[153][154][90] Anal fistula were treated by passing probes through the anus, then once it was drawn out, a linen thread was placed into it.

If the wound was too narrow to allow for an easy replacement of the intestines, the surgeon would cut it until it was "sufficiently wide."