The history of surgical tools is an important element in the history of medicine. Numerous surgical tools have been discovered during archaeological excavations. The most complete are related to Roman culture and the House of the Surgeon, in Pompeii.
The Roman period presents a good picture of the medical tools used a millennium ago; they are well preserved and are frequently associated medical texts describing their use. Another interesting aspect is that some of these instruments did not change too much until the twentieth century.
Here are some surgical tools dating back from the Roman era.
- The bone elevator, called "vectis", was used as a lever to reduce a displaced bone fracture or to lift a depressed area.
- Cauters - "ferrum candens" - were heated by fire and then used for multiple purposes: anti-irritant, hemostat, removing tumors by cutting and cauterizing etc.
- The scalpel was a cutting tool used in surgical practice and there were several models.
- The forceps was a tool used to extract arrows or weapon tips from the wound
- Looking like an instrument of torture, the Speculum or dioptra was used for gynecological surgery, for the observation of diseases of the female genital tract.
- Dissection hooks had a surgical use similar to some current instruments (dissecting and lifting blood vessels, gripping and sectioning tissue fragments for excision or to retract the edges of the wound).
Original Post on: What Surgical Tools Did The Romans Invent?
source https://blog.apiarymedical.com/what-surgical-tools-did-the-romans-invent/
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