Journal of Research on History of Medicine
Volume:4 Issue: 4, Nov 2015

We review abscess management by Ibn al-Quff in the 12 century, described in his book al Omdaa (Arabic version). He explained in detail how an abscess presents, access for drainage, the proper preparation by the surgeon and patient for a procedure, and technical guidelines. It is considered advanced in ensuring the best results of managing this pathology. Much of his advice is already in use, and the rest has either never been considered or has not been studied well. A comprehensive literature review was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar. Articles were sought about Ibn al-Quff and his contribution to medical knowledge, medical education and quality control for surgical practice. Included were studies of abscess management, options for drainage after maturation, methods of incision and packing after drainage, and preparations to be made by the patient and surgeon for a procedure to be completed correctly. Chapter 10 of the original manuscript of Ibn al-Quff (in Arabic) describes in detail how to manage an abscess, which was compared to current practice. Ibn al-Quff gave clear practice guidelines for abscess management and discussed abscess maturation and the timing of incisions, which are poorly addressed in the current literature. The role of eruptive medicine in helping spontaneous abscess rupture was addressed in the book. The direction of incisions in relation to the location and involvement of organs for all abscess are not explored in detail. These are considered common sense in the preparation by a surgeon and patients for surgery in modern health care, and they are well explained by Ibn al-Quff. Ibn al-Quff addressed abscess management in an unmatchable manner for his time. Some points that he addressed, like abscess maturation, use of eruptive medicine through local skin applications to help an abscess erupt spontaneously, pus smell in relation to the causative organism, and the direction of incisions based on abscess location, are still areas of active research.

Abū l-Ḥasan Alī ibn al-‘Abbās al-Majūsī Ahvazi (? 930-994 AD), best known as Haly Abbas in the West, was a 10th century Persian physician whose lifetime coincided with the flourishing of medical science in the Near East, the Islamic Medicine Golden Age, an era extending from the 9th to the 12th centuries AD. Haly Abbas, in his extant book Kāmil al-Sinā‘ah al-Tibbīyah (The Perfect Book of the Art of Medicine), provided a detailed description of the pulse and its features. He practiced the evaluation of the pulse cycles to distinguish between the state of well-being and various diseases. These 10th century views on the pulse are explored in this text through a discussion of Haly Abbas’ surviving book, the Kāmil al-Sinā‘ah al-Tibbīyah (The Perfect Book of the Art of Medicine).

The purpose of this study is to summarize the treatment options for scoliosis and spine deformities from Antiquity through Medieval Times up to the Renaissance. Furthermore, it is to present the contribution of “the Father of Modern Surgery”, Ambroise Paré (1510-1590), to this field. Paré was a distinguished surgeon of the Renaissance with many contributions to surgery, including war trauma, obstetrics, forensic medicine, and Orthopaedics. He was the first to recognize the importance of bracing for the treatment of scoliosis, inventing his famous metallic brace with holes to reduce weight. In conclusion, it is noted that up to the time of the Renaissance traction and exercise were the main treatments of spinal deformities, especially scoliosis. The pioneering work of Ambroise Paré, “The father of Modern Surgery”, suggested the use of a metallic brace during adolescence in order to correct spine curvature of scoliosis. Besides that, Paré never rejected more traditional treatment options, like traction and exercise. He just suggested continuous bracing in order to add to the already existing conservative therapeutic options.

Knowledge of Surgery is one of the milestones in Islamic civilization. The purpose of this study was to find principles and proven techniques used by Muslim surgeons, third to twelfth century AH. The present study, enjoying a historical approach, used a descriptive analysis method with matching samples. The findings of the study revealed that, during this period, some of the principles and techniques utilized, being accepted from the East to the West of Muslim world, were quite prevalent. Muslim surgeons had clear and distinct understanding of diseases of the genital system. The basic principles of Islamic surgery comprised the precaution, recovery and treatment, prevention of bleeding and suturing, along with having specialized knowledge of synthetic drugs and medicinal plants. Surgical techniques included: cauterizing, cutting and splitting. In all these steps, it was necessary for the surgeons to be equipped with specialized knowledge of a variety of surgical tools, such as cicatrix, scissors, hooks and knives and the way to use them.

In the world history, from ancient times up to now, the plague has been followed by heavy casualties on human societies and social order. One of the deadliest plagues is the Great Plague of the middle ages, or so-called Black Death. This plague, in the eighth and ninth AH (fourteenth and fifteenth century AD) swept over some large areas of Asia, especially the Middle East, as well as Europe, and massacred millions of people. In Iran, the plague had three stages, especially in Azerbaijan and Heart where it imposed heavy losses. At that time, after the collapse of Ilkhanid, local dynasties, namely Timurid and Turkmen, ruled in Iran. Factors which played a pivotal role in the break- out of the disease are as follows: environmental Factors, human actions, especially the invasion of Mongols and the East-West trade. The present study, employing descriptive – analytical method and having access to related historical sources, has investigated the outbreak of the plague and its social consequences in Iran. The purpose of this paper is to show the impact of the outbreak of plague on social movements and its role in the recession of Iranian-islamic civilization in the Middle Ages of Iran.

The Iranian-Islamic sources have testified to the importance of Gundishapour as the largest scientific center, having a medical school and one of the largest hospitals of ancient world in which renown physicians and the scholars of age, from various nationalities, were employed to teach, to do research, and to treat patients. In this scientific centre, Greek medicine linked with Indian medicine joined with Persian medicine. Various factors have influenced its growth, namely the Sasanian kings’ protection of medical practices as well as physicians, the closure of Edessa school in 489 A.D, and hence the migration of numerous scholars of this centre to Nisibis and Gundishapour and finally the closure of Athens school in 529 A.D by Justinian, leading to the migration of the scholars of Athens school to Iran. In this paper, by drawing on historical and geographical sources and following the descriptive- analytical manner, we have tried to study the impact the protection of Sasanian king of sciences, and that of the closure of Edessa and Athens schools on the growth of Gundishapour.