Surgery in ancient India (Study)
by P. P. Prathapan | 2011 | 50,270 words
This essay studies Surgery in ancient India based on Sanskrit sources.—The Sushruta Samhita details the practice of surgery known to ancient Indian traditional medicine, which showcases an advanced development in this field as well as theoretical and practical knowledge of hygiene rivaling contemporary routine practices. The present thesis further ...
10. Plastic Surgery according to Sushruta
The great highlight of Sushruta's surgery was the operation of rhinoplasty. The making of a new nose captured the imagination of the medical world and brought him fame as the originator of plastic surgery.41 174
Susruta lays down the basic principles of plastic surgery by advocating a proper physiotherapy before the operation and describes various methods or different types of defects, viz., release of the skin for covering small defects, rotation of the flaps to make up for the partial loss and pedicle flaps for covering complete loss of skin from an area. He has mentioned various methods including sliding graft, rotation graft and pedicle graft. Nasal repair or rhinoplasty has been described in greater detail, which to this day has stood the test of time and is mentioned as the Indian method of rhinoplasty in the books of plastic surgery. Lastly, labioplasty too has received his attention. In short, all the principles of plastic surgery, viz., accuracy, precision, economy, haemostasis and perfection find an important place in Sushruta's writings on this subject. Surgical science- salya tantra embraces all processes aiming at the removal of factors responsible for producing pain or misery to the body or mind. Health, according to Sushruta, is a state of physical and mental well being brought about and preserved by the maintenance of humours, good nutrition, proper elimination of waste products and a pleasant harmony of the body and the mind. 175
Susruta warns that improper intervention with surgical manoeuvre either due to ignorance of the progress of the disease process, or greed for money or lack of judgement, lead only to complications. A conscientious surgeon, on the other hand, considers his patient as a whole. For diseases divorced from patients are abstractions from reality. Any surgical manoeuvre is a phased programme well planned and then executed. The pascatkarman included the rehabilitation and removal of complications. Today's commercialization of medical science, remind one of the ancient surgeons who maintained nobility of their profession. Sushruta says that, there can be nothing more magnificent than the act of removing human suffering. The science of life in practice is godly, life giving; indeed it is virtue and fame personified.