Ayurveda and Surgery 🙏
🌅History of surgery in Ayurveda.
In Sushruta Samhita written by Sushruta(~600 BCE),detailed explanations of surgical instruments, different types of incisions, different suturing and bandaging techniques, fracture
reductions, techniques of foreign body
extraction and surgical management of obstructed labour are found. The original textbook written by Sushruta was later redacted by Nagarjuna(400-500 CE) and was amended by Chandrata thereafter(10th century CE).Banaras happened to be the place where
Sushruta practiced surgery.
He described the extracapsular
surgical technique of cataract extraction using a sharply pointed
instrument. This is one of the earliest documented surgical
approaches to treat cataract. Sushruta’s technique of reconstruction surgery was in use among Vaidyas even during the
Colonial rule.
A case report of a Vaidya using forehead flap to reconstruct the nose was published as a letter to the editor in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1794. This in fact made western world aware of this technique.
🌅Recent history of surgical practice by Ayurveda.
While practice of Ayurveda medicine continued uninterruptedly, the surgical practice came to a standstill due to multitude of
reasons including the advent of Buddhist philosophy and social
prejudice against surgery.