Trepanning

Imagine that you live during the 18th and you  have a migraine.

Where did you go and what did you do in order so fix this painful problem?  Well, lucky for you there is a solution, it is called trepanning!

 

Trepanning is very ancient, so ancient in fact that it is considered the most ancient form of surgery know to man. The word Trepanning comes from the Greek language (trupanon) and it means Borer, which means drill. The simple explanation for trepanning is, basically, that the surgeon drills or scrapes open a hole in your skull in order to get access to the brain.

The art of trepanning was practiced as early as 10.000 B.C in Europe, South America and in some regions of North America. Many different kinds of sculls have been found over the course of time mostly in Roman, Greek, Eastern, Chinese, Egyptian and African cultures and in Africa today tribes are still using this kind of surgery in the belief that it will cure headaches, migraines, let out evil spirits and cure insanity just as they did in the ancient times and without anesthesia, meaning that the patient is wide awake! Scientist even have evidence that approximately 70% survived the operation and had repeated sessions!

 

Trepanning is still carried out in our modern society, mainly Africa and South America. Usually used to treat cases of head injury, as it can relieve pressure from the brain such as fluid or blood build- up. It also allows the insertions of monitoring devices, but the bone is often replaced instead of letting it grow back as the doctors of old did. The doctors of old also kept pieces of their patients skull as lucky charms, which is quite gruesome!

In skulls that have been trepanned what happened to the bone?

The bone eventually started to grow back, forming new bone so the patient survived (most of times) and these surgeries were done without anesthesia, such as narcosis which is used in our hospitals, so the (un)lucky patient was wide awake during the surgery.

Well into the 18th century trepanning was a very common practice, since medicine and surgery were evolving as the church decreased in power. The body was considered a temple and was not allowed to be desecrated until then.

An example of how many times trepanning can be performed on a single person is Prince Philip of Orange (1554-1618), who was the son of a key figured during the Dutch revolution, He was trepanned seventeen times, that has to be a record!

 

My personal view is that trepanning seems quite disturbing. Drilling a hole in a persons skull to get access to the brain, which is most precious of all, but it have and is being used over decades so that is quite the proof of it being a good way to, for example relieve pressure from he brain. The people that did die, died from infection after the actual surgery and the cleanliness in hospitals was very bad until the 18th century when the doctors very forced to wash their hands after touching a patient. What do you think and feel? Is trepanning a good thing or should we find something new? Please comment if you feel like it, a discussion is always nice.

Gabriel

 

 

http://library.thinkquest.org/J0111742/Trepanning.htm


Kommentarer
Postat av: Lia

As a person who suffers from migraine, I think that I'd prefer migraine any day over getting a hole drilled in my head! That sounds awful!



I'm curious, however, if this actually helped anyone. Since they kept doing this for so long, some patients or doctors must at least have thought it helped...



Also, interesting fact, when doctors started to actually wash their hands before surgery, 50% more survided than earlier :)



2011-03-11 @ 11:14:29
Postat av: Gabriel

well, if it helped is another question, since this method was also used to cure stupidity.... i thought that it was a higher percentage when it come s to the hand washing:o

2011-03-11 @ 11:37:37
Postat av: Oscar

Nice article! Quite amusing too actually, I find this quite funny but there has to be better ways then to drill a fricken hole in somebodys head! And without anesthesia I am very happy that I live now and not before the 18th century. Well nice article anyways =)

2011-03-11 @ 11:52:33
Postat av: Alexandra

Good article! :)



I must say that I agree with Lia that I'd prefer migraine any day over getting a hole drilled in my head because it sounds very risky and awful to get a hole drilled in my head and especially when you're wide awake. I can't understand how they actually survived.. but yeah, interesting article! :)

2011-03-11 @ 16:30:55
URL: http://alexandrieah.blogspot.com
Postat av: Linnéa

Good and intresting entry! :)

I agree with the others. I'm happy that I'm living now and not then. It's quite disgusting to make a hole in somebody's head, and god so painfully with out any anodyne.

2011-03-11 @ 19:14:48
Postat av: Nora

Nice Article Gabriel! :)

I would say that I'm definitely against trepanning! I don't think that I care if it helps or not, I would never ever want a hole drilled in my head, and like in the 18th without narcosis! With all the knowledge and medicine etc. in migraine curing, we have access till today I think it's terrible that drilling hole in peoples’ heads still is used to cure migrane! Hopefully we'll find better and cheaper ways to cure migraine so that no one will need to get a hole drilled in its head!

2011-03-13 @ 13:27:51
Postat av: Gabriel

I do not really think it hurt, since the skullbone does not have any nerves so it wouldn't casue such aganozing pain as the majority of you think:o

although it might feel very strange...

2011-03-16 @ 11:24:51
Postat av: Ronja

Good article :)

But when people came back to have it done again like Prince Philip, did they drill in the same place or in a different one?

I would not want anyone to drill a hole in my head, even if it did work, even if it made me immune to headachs forever. Just the thought of sitting their awake while someone is drilling in your head is quite disturbing. I couldn't do it.

2011-03-16 @ 19:56:51
Postat av: Felicia

I think that it seems like a terrible way of curing someone I would definitley see it as a last way out, even if i had a awful headache!

The fact that it's still going on today kind of scares me, sure if you want to let fluid out from the brain to ease the pressure there is no other option but then at least it's preformed in a hospital under clean circumstances. But that they still do it in African tribes to cure people or to scare away spirits is just wrong! Maybe there is no other way to scare away spirits so if they want to drill a hola in someones head to scare them away, fine let them do that, but there are much better ways to fix a headache though and it can't be that hard to go and visit the tribes to at least try to educate them in some basic medical care so that they won't have to drill a hole in someones head as soon as their getting a headache.

2011-03-16 @ 19:58:31
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