On some paleopathological examples of amputation and the implications for healthcare in 13th-17th century Lithuania.

OBJECTIVE: To explore care that was likely provided to an adult male amputee from medieval Lithuania, positioning analysis within what is known of contemporary amputation practices. MATERIALS: Three sets of skeletal remains with evidence for amputation, dating to between the 13th-17th centuries AD and recovered during different archaeological excavations in Vilnius, Lithuania. METHODS: Macroscopic inspection of lesions, with additional X-ray analysis of the main subject. The Index of Care was used to investigate possible caregiving. RESULTS: Two individuals experienced amputation of a single element, and the third experienced bilateral hand amputation. Only one individual displayed healing. Historic sources suggest use of amputation for punitive purposes during this period, and judicial punishment is proposed as the most likely reason for amputation in at least two cases. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence of long-term healing in one individual suggests receipt of care. This individual likely relied on family and/or community members for survival immediately following amputation, and subsequently for support in managing disability. SIGNIFICANCE: Successfully combining osteology with history in a framework for analyzing care provision in past Eastern European society, this study underlines the critical importance of context in undertaking bioarchaeology of care analyses. It also adds two examples of perimortem abscissions in this region to the paleopathological record. LIMITATIONS: Our approach relied on skeletal interpretation. Soft tissue was lost to decomposition and no relevant archaeological evidence was found in association with the remains. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: A review of skeletal collections may allow identification of overlooked cases of amputation (and care).

Jean Dominique Larrey and his recognition in Mexico.

The figure of Jean Dominique Larrey, military surgeon who participated in the Napoleonic wars, is analyzed. The objectives of the study are to highlight their contributions, including the creation of ambulances that allowed the injured to be given prompt assistance. Also note the post-mortem recognition that Larrey had in Mexico through an academic group founded by the surgeon Francisco Montes de Oca y Saucedo. The facts cited show the progress of military surgery, its institutionalization and professionalization as well as the communication and updating of knowledge in one and another continent.

Se analiza la figura de Jean Dominique Larrey, cirujano militar que participó en las guerras napoleónicas. Los objetivos de estudio consisten en destacar sus aportaciones, entre ellas la creación de las ambulancias que permitieron dar una pronta asistencia al herido. Asimismo, señalar el reconocimiento post mortem que Larrey tuvo en México a través de una agrupación académica fundada por el cirujano Francisco Montes de Oca y Saucedo. Los hechos citados muestran el progreso de la cirugía militar, su institucionalización y profesionalización, así como la comunicación y la actualización de saberes en uno y otro continente.

Hallmarks of amputation surgery.

PURPOSE: To highlight the most important innovations and milestones in the historical evolution of amputation and disarticulation surgery through the ages, from the early antiquity until the modern era. METHOD: A thorough search of the literature was undertaken in PubMed and Google Scholar as well as in physical books in libraries to summarize current and classic literature on the hallmarks of the history of amputation surgery in the course of medical history. RESULTS: Amputation of a limb is one of the oldest surgical procedures. Initially, it was fraught with complications and dismal outcome of the patients because of hemorrhage and infection. Due to lack of analgesics and narcotics the operation had to take only a few minutes. Obtaining experience, the surgeons evolved the operative technique and refined the procedure, anesthesia and perioperative analgesia was introduced, instruments were developed, and rehabilitation has enabled functional and social reintegration of amputees. CONCLUSION: From the Hippocratic era until currently, the surgical approach to amputation has changed little. However, the indications for amputations have changed a lot and had been refined, especially in diabetic patients and in those with severe chronic peripheral vascular disease. An exponential decrease in mortality for an operation once fraught with complications was due to the development of the tourniquet, proper vessel ligation and repair, antisepsis, and anesthesia.

Wilhelm Fabricius von Hilden (1560-1634): The Pioneer of German Surgery.

Wilhelm Fabricius von Hilden (1560-1634) or also known with his Latinized name Guilielmus Fabricius Hildanus is considered the founder of scientific German surgery. He introduced new surgical techniques and invented new surgical instruments for the surgical treatment of nasal polyps, stone bladder, breast and ocular cancer, hydrocele, and ascites, while very ingenious were his amputation techniques. His most important surgical treatise was Observationem et curationem chirurgicam centuriae sex ( Six Hundred Surgical Observations and Treatments) first published in 1606.

Ambroise Paré (1510-1590) and His Innovative Work on the Treatment of War Injuries.

The purpose of this study is to summarize the innovations of Ambroise Paré (1510-1590) on the treatment of war wounds and improving amputation technique through ligature in arteries and veins. Ambroise Paré debunked the widely accepted idea that gun powder was poisonous for wounds. He also minimized the use of cautery of wounds by his dressing methods and the application of ligature during amputations. All these innovative rationales revolutionized the practice of war surgery during the Renaissance and paved the way for the introduction of modern surgery. Nevertheless, although his wound dressing innovations became widely accepted, the same did not happen with ligature and amputation; those techniques could become widely applicable if one could somehow control bleeding until the blood vessels had been tied. This became possible much later in the 18th century when Jean Louis Petit invented the first useful and efficient tourniquet.

An early medical photograph in the history of modern surgery in Tabriz-Iran, 1919.

This article presents one of the earliest clinical photographs in the history of surgery in Iran. The picture was taken around 1919 (1297 of the Iranian solar calendar) in Tabriz, Iran. It shows the post-operative care of two amputees by the surgical team, the surgical instruments and the method of applied anesthesia. The patients were Iranian Gendarmerie soldiers who lost their limbs to frostbite. The surgeries were performed by Dr. Ali Roshdi in Gendarmerie Hospital in Tabriz. This photograph cleverly demonstrates the coconscious endeavor of the surgical team to treat and save lives of patients in about a century ago in Tabriz, Iran.

Orthopedic surgery in ancient Egypt.

BACKGROUND: Ancient Egypt might be considered the cradle of medicine. The modern literature is, however, sometimes rather too enthusiastic regarding the procedures that are attributed an Egyptian origin. I briefly present and analyze the claims regarding orthopedic surgery in Egypt, what was actually done by the Egyptians, and what may have been incorrectly ascribed to them. METHODS: I reviewed the original sources and also the modern literature regarding surgery in ancient Egypt, concentrating especially on orthopedic surgery. RESULTS: As is well known, both literary sources and the archaeological/osteological material bear witness to treatment of various fractures. The Egyptian painting, often claimed to depict the reduction of a dislocated shoulder according to Kocher's method, is, however, open to interpretation. Therapeutic amputations are never depicted or mentioned in the literary sources, while the specimens suggested to demonstrate such amputations are not convincing. INTERPRETATION: The ancient Egyptians certainly treated fractures of various kinds, and with varying degrees of success. Concerning the reductions of dislocated joints and therapeutic amputations, there is no clear evidence for the existence of such procedures. It would, however, be surprising if dislocations were not treated, even though they have not left traces in the surviving sources. Concerning amputations, the general level of Egyptian surgery makes it unlikely that limb amputations were done, even if they may possibly have been performed under extraordinary circumstances.

[The death of Goffredo Mameli in 1849]. / La morte di Goffredo Mameli a Roma nel 1849.

After the introduction of firearms, which became increasingly efficient over time, the number of seriously injured soldiers increased considerably during the nineteenth century. As a consequence, surgeons were called upon to broaden their activity, performing operations which had hitherto been considered too hazardous, since they were deemed to be too extensive, or were contraindicated by the risk of complications during surgery (haemorrhage, heart and circulatory failure). From 1846 onwards, the introduction of anaesthetic techniques carried out with ether had expanded surgical perspectives in anatomical districts like the abdomen, which were previously considered a sort of taboo, such that few surgeons ventured into the realm of this internal surgery. In the mid nineteenth century the possibility of suffering from severe infections, as an immediate complication after a firearm injury or after surgical intervention, was very high, ranging between 23% in London, up to 80% in Munich, according to the available records; in Zurich a 46% mortality is reported, and a similar 43% rate came from Edinburgh. The situation worsened during war time, since injured soldiers were recovered in extremely precarious conditions, ad hoc hospitals were located in dilapidated old buildings, and the physicians and health care providers were unaware of the minimum hygiene conditions required, and performed both operations and medications without taking sterility measures into consideration. The author reports and comments on the most significant parts on the documents written by Agostino Bertani, who described in full detail the clinical evolution of the wound suffered by Goffredo Mameli, the poet and patriot of the Italian Risorgimento who wrote the Italian national anthem. The clinical evolution of Mameli's disease was unfavourable: he underwent amputation of the left lower limb after the firearm injury suffered during the defence of the Roman Republic, since a gangrenous complication had become apparent. The poet died of septicaemia on July 6, 1849, 17 days after the surgical operation.

History of lower limb reconstruction after trauma.

BACKGROUND: The principles guiding reconstruction of the lower limb after trauma have become established over 300 years through advances in technology and studies of epidemiology. This paper reviews how these principles came about and why they are important. METHODS: This is a structured review of historical and recent literature pertinent to lower limb reconstruction. The outcomes assessed in the pre-modern era were wound mortality, amputation mortality and amputation rate. In the modern era, infection and non-union emerged as measures of outcome, which are morbidity- rather than mortality-based. Indications for amputation published during the eras are taken to reflect the reconstructive practices of the time. RESULTS: Amputation and wound mortality fell throughout the pre-modern era, from 70% and 20% to 1.8% and 1.8%, respectively. Amputation rates peaked in the American Civil War (53%) but have remained less than 20% since then. Infection and non-union rates in the modern era have fluctuated between 5% and 45%. CONCLUSIONS: Priority areas for research include refinement of soft tissue reconstruction, injury classification, standardization of outcome measures and primary prevention. The impact of débridement and antisepsis on outcomes should not be forgotten as progress is made.

Primer simulacro de amputación traumática de miembro superior de necesidad y rescate en un escenario inhóspito. Base Marambio, Antártida Argentina. 9 de diciembre de 2011 / First simulacrum of traumatic upper limb amputation of necessity and rescue a bleak scenario. Bse Marambio, Antarctica Argentina. December 9, 2011

Se efectuó un simulacro de amputación de necesidad y rescate en dependencias de la Base Marambio (Antártida Argentina). La amputación de una extremidad constituye un dilema al cual está sujeto un médico en determinadas situaciones críticas. Además, los intentos infructuosos para salvar una extremidad irrecuperable están asociados a una alta morbilidad y muchas veces son letales para el paciente. Existen innumerables discusiones en relación con los criterios de predicción para conservar un miembro lesionado, por lo que se han propuesto varios índices de valoración para determinar qué extremidad puede ser conservada o cuál amputada. Por ello en el presente trabajo se efectúa una revisión bibliográfica sobre el uso de tablas y/o criterios para la toma de tal decisión. Se efectuó un ejercicio simulado en el cual se consideró la escena (situación de aislamiento geográfico, características inhóspitas y recursos limitados en la Antártida) y el estado de atrapamiento de la víctima, más la irrecuperabilidad de la porción distal del miembro superior, en donde debía priorizarse la vida del paciente, respecto a la pérdida de la extremidad que ya se encontraba mutilada en forma irreversible, con el fin de ser estabilizado y extricado del lugar para ser trasladado a otro espacio para completar con mejores medios su tratamiento definitivo. Dicho ejercicio se realizó como parte de la capacitación continua del personal que se desempeña en las Bases Antárticas, que dadas las características del escenario antártico, hacen necesaria tal preparación para afrontar situaciones de extrema gravedad en un lugar inhóspito y alejado del continente.

We conducted a mock amputation and rescue agencies need the Marambio Base (Antarctica Argentina). The amputation of a limb is a dilemma which is subject to a doctor in certain critical situations. In addition, unsuccessful attempts to save a limb unrecoverable are associated with high morbidity and are often lethal to the patient. There are countIess discussions regarding prediction criteria to retain an injured limb, so that several indices have been proposed assessment to determine what can be preserved limb amputated or what, why in the present study the authors reviewed the literature on use of tables and/or criteria for making such a decision. We conducted a simulation exercise, which was considered the scene (geographical isolation, limited resources and inhospitable features in Antarctica) and the state of entrapment of the victim, plus the irrecoverable from the distal upper limb, where needed to prioritize the patient's life, about the loss of the limb that was already irreversibly mutilated, in order to be stabilized and extricated the place to be moved to a place with better ways to complete definitive treatment. This exercise was conducted as part of the continuous training of personnel working in the Antarctic Bases, that given the characteristics of the Antarctic scenario necessitates such a preparation to deal with situations of extreme gravity in an inhospitable place and away from the continent.