An approach to the milestones of spine surgery in Persian traditional medicine.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis and treatment of spine disorders have been challenging for thousands of years in different nations and medical schools. Despite this long history, there are many information gaps in this regard. The current research deals with the milestones and progress of spine surgery from ancient times until now, emphasizing the innovations of sages in the Persian traditional medicine era. METHODS: The present study is based on searching original and library documents, data from databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct, and search engines such as Google Scholar. RESULTS: In Persian traditional medicine, Rhazes (865-925 AD) was the first sage who applied spine surgery based on the innovative knowledge of Galen (second century AD) and Paulus Aegineta (seventh century AD). Hally Abbas (tenth century AD), by suturing two separated bones during spine surgery, and Albucasis (936-1013 AD), by inventing, describing, and drawing the surgical instruments involved in surgeries in this area, and also using cauterization in the treatment of children's hunchback, were the innovators of new methods. CONCLUSION: The modern knowledge of spine surgery is based on intelligent experiences and prominent thoughts from thousands of years worldwide. However, sometimes, these key points have remained hidden. This issue necessitates investigating this science in different schools and territories for comparative studies, identifying the firsts in the prominent points of this field, preserving the identity of sages and nations, and preventing scientific plagiarism.

The history of orthopaedic surgery in India: from antiquity to present.

Indian orthopedists have a legacy dating back more than 4000 years. Starting with the Harappan civilization, ancient orthopaedic surgeons reduced fractures and conducted therapeutic trepanations. Since then, Indian physicians have pioneered many of the orthopaedic techniques still used today - including the use of prosthetics, fracture tables, and rehabilitative physical therapy. Today, orthopaedic surgeons coexist with traditional Indian bonesetters. Although bonesetting practices can have complication rates as high as 40%, bonesetters still handle a majority of fractures in India and are often culturally preferred. Importantly though, bonesetters are often the only expedient option available in both rural and urban settings.

The history of bone marrow in orthopaedic surgery (part I trauma): trepanning, bone marrow injection in damage control resuscitation, and bone marrow aspiration to heal fractures.

PURPOSE: One of the oldest procedures performed by man is trepanning of the bone and yet it was only in the last 40 years that bone marrow aspiration has been used to treat nonunion disorders. MATERIAL AND METHODS: These advances were possible due to improvements in instruments and in techniques to make holes in the bone, an history that began with skull trephinations around 8000-10,000 years ago, and continued with sternum bone marrow injection for trauma resuscitation in the beginning of the twentieth century; this procedure had improved at the beginning of the twenty-first century to allow pelvis bone marrow aspiration for the treatment of nonunion. RESULTS: Trephined skulls from antiquity have been found in many parts of world, showing that trephining was ancient and widespread. Beginning with Neolithic period and the pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, the authors have traced the development of this surgical skill by describing the various surgical tools used to perform holes in the skull. These tools (trephines or trepan) were proposed at the end of the nineteenth century to study the bone marrow. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the sternum became the center of interest for the "in vivo" study of the bone marrow and the fluid injection in the sternum's bone marrow was described for resuscitation from shock during the World War II. With the introduction of plastic catheters and improved cannulation techniques, the need for intraosseous infusion as an alternative route for intravenous access diminished and sometimes abandoned. However, during the mid-1980s, James Orlowski allowed renaissance of the use of intraosseous infusion for paediatric resuscitation. Since then, this technique has become widespread and is now recognized as an alternative to intravenous access in adult emergencies; particularly, the intraosseous access has received class IIA recommendation from the Advanced Trauma Life Support program supported by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma and bone marrow infusion is now recommended for "Damage Control" resuscitation. Although the pelvis bone contains half of the body's marrow volume, it was only in 1950 that the pelvis was proposed as a source for bone marrow aspiration and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells to improve healing of fractures. CONCLUSION: It will be many years before doing holes in the bone as orthopaedic trauma procedure will be relegated to the annals of history.

Abulcasis (936-1013): his work and contribution to orthopaedics.

AIM OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this historic review is to summarize the life and work of Abulcasis (936-1013) and his contribution to surgery and orthopaedics. METHOD: We conducted an extensive search in libraries as well as online in PubMed and Google Scholar. RESULTS: Abulcasis in his work combines the knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman physicians and surgeons with the extensive knowledge of Arabic medicine and pharmacology. He also pioneered surgical technique with the invention of numerous surgical instruments and with several revolutionary surgical techniques. CONCLUSION: Abulcasis made an impact with his medical writings in which he summarized the works of ancient Greek and Roman physicians like Hippocrates and Galen with the influence of medieval authors and the knowledge of the Arabic medicine and pharmacology. His descriptions and innovations in his work remained a work of reference in the West and East for many centuries to come.

History of orthopaedics in China: a brief review.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Chinese orthopaedic surgeons have made a substantial contribution to the development of orthopaedics worldwide, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in orthopaedics has a very long history in China. We make a brief review of the development of orthopaedics in China, intending to pave the way for further understanding of Chinese orthopaedics for scholars all over the world. RESULTS: The description of fractures firstly appeared in 3600 years ago in China, and the theories, experience, and treatment strategies of TCM still play important roles in clinical diagnosis and treatment of orthopaedic disorders in our country. Western orthopaedics was first introduced into China in the early twentieth century. After decades of development, Chinese scholars have made some gratifying achievements in orthopaedics. CONCLUSIONS: Orthopaedics is constantly evolving, and we need to strengthen the ability of independent innovation to achieve orthopaedic surgeons' Chinese dream, and better serve our patients.

Apollonius of Citium (first century BC) and his work on the treatment of joint dislocations.

The purpose of this study was to summarise the life and work of the Cypriot physician Apollonius of Citium (first century BC). His overall work on medicine is presented, and special emphasis is given to his work on the treatment of joint dislocations. The most famous work of Apollonius is Treatise On Joints, which was preserved on the whole in a manuscript of the tenth century AD. In that manuscript, Apollonius is obviously influenced by the Hippocratic Corpus of Medicine. His description, diagnostic methods and reduction techniques are all based on those described by Hippocrates in his work "On Joints". Apollonius' contribution to this subject concerns accurate depiction in images of the reduction techniques he proposes. His simplifications describe the techniques of Hippocrates in a way they can be understood and used by athletes and nonphysicians in the Greek gymnasia. Perhaps his treatise is one of the earliest works of popularised medicine and surgery in the history of human civilisation.

Outline of medical rehabilitation history in Poland and worldwide.

The study is an outline of the historical development of rehabilitation as a new medical discipline in Poland and worldwide. Rehabilitation has developed dynamically in the interwar period. In the US, it was pioneered by Howard Rusk, while in Poland, rehabilitation was introduced by Wiktor Dega. Medical rehabilitation is an interdisciplinary approach and is an integral and irremovable element of treatment at all treatment stages. Of note is the contribution of Wiktor Dega, who has developed and presented the Polish concept of rehabilitation, considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as worth of being followed. Wiktor Dega believed that rehabilitation should be started possibly early--as soon as in the active disease stage and should provide and maintain good functional results after surgical treatment. The article discusses the contribution of pioneer specialists in rehabilitation in two first rehabilitation centers in Poland, established after World War II in Poznan and Konstancin near Warsaw.

Clubfoot: etiology and treatment Ignacio V. Ponseti, MD, 1914-.

This biographical sketch of Ignacio V. Ponseti, MD, corresponds to the historic text, The Classic: Congenital Club Foot: The Results of Treatment, available at DOI 10.1007/s11999-009-0720-2 and The Classic: Observations on Pathogenesis and Treatment of Congenital Clubfoot, available at DOI 10.1007/s11999-009-0721-1.

Evolution of pelvic and acetabular surgery from ancient to modern times.

Fracture stabilisation before the 19th century was in its infancy. The outcome was suboptimal, and quite often mortality was the end result. Advances in the stabilisation of long-bone fractures did not become apparent until the mid-1940s and for other bones, even later. In the mid-1960s, Judet and Letournel initiated a series of experimental and clinical studies focusing on pelvic and acetabular reconstruction surgery. Their work set the pace for all the subsequent advancements made in this field of surgery. Today, pelvic and acetabular reconstruction is a recognised subspecialty within the disciplines of trauma and orthopaedics. This review article traces the evolution of pelvic and acetabular surgery, from ancient to modern times.

History of spine surgery in the ancient and medieval worlds.

There is a paucity of surviving texts from ancient and medieval times that can shed light on the early development of spine surgery. Nevertheless, the author reviews many of the available books and fragments and discusses early developments in the field of spine surgery from the point of view of physicians' personalities, general themes, and actual surgical practices. For purposes of an overview and to highlight changing trends in spine surgery, he divides the paper into four eras of medicine: 1) Egyptian and Babylonian; 2) Greek and early Byzantine; 3) Arabic; and 4) medieval.

[Rachitic knock knees in children]. / Das rachitische X-Bein im Kindesalter. Pathogenese und Therapie aus historischer Sicht.

Knee malpositions, for example valgus or varus deformations or flexion contractures, were often cited in the historical literature. In earlier times, clinical pictures such as rickets were often the reason for this kind of deformity. A causal therapy did not exist until the twentieth century. In most cases of rickets, genu valgum was reported as the typical knee deformation. The differential diagnosis for genu valgum caused by rickets was genu valgum traumaticum, paralyticum, and inflammatorium. The most important reports on the pathogenesis of valgus deformation can be found in publications by Hueter and von Mikulicz. The causal therapy of rickets was introduced at the beginning of the twentieth century.Vitamin therapy and UV phototherapy were developed during this period. Using these therapies, rickets decreased dramatically. Kurt Huldschinsky, a pediatrician from Berlin,was one of the main inventors of UV phototherapy in Germany. At the end of the nineteenth century, the operative correction of knee deformities increased while conservative treatment continued to be applied. Plaster casts,orthoses, and osteoclast therapy were the main noninvasive therapeutic possibilities. Positive aspects of the conservative techniques were mostly the good results and easy, timesaving technique compared with the operative treatment. The operative therapy increased with the knowledge of antisepsis and asepsis as well as advances in anesthetic procedures. Operative treatment modalities, for example tibial and femoral osteotomies, were more precise, but connected with multiple complications and greater time expenditure. Sufficient vitamin prophylaxis rendered knee deformations caused by rickets a rarity.

[History of the treatment of spinal diseases]. / Geschichte der Behandlung von Wirbelsäulenerkrankungen.

Identification and treatment of spinal disorders have been described for thousands of years. Nevertheless, systematic operative treatment was more or less impossible until about 200 years ago. During the second half of the last century, spinal surgery developed rapidly due to several technical improvements. This article summarizes the main aspects of the historical development of spinal surgery.