Illustrations of neurosurgical techniques in early period of Ottoman Empire by Şerefeddin Sabuncuoğlu

Abstract

Serefeddin Sabuncuoğlu was a great surgeon in Turkish medical history and the sections on neurological diseases in Cerrahiyyetü'l Haniyye are of great importance in neurosurgery. Today, he is justified as a pioneer of surgery, an investigator and a medical illustrator in the early period of Ottoman Empire. His atlas is a modification of original contributions from earlier treatises.

Şerefeddin Sabuncuoğlu: Forgotten Vignette of 600 Years

“…One of the popular writings' of that age was entitled "Twelve Books" written by The Cerrahiyet'ül-Haniyye with his original classifications and illustrations of 134 surgical interventions, 156 surgical instruments, consists of three chapters: the first chapter on surgical cauterisations, the second chapter on surgical incisions and interventions and the third chapter on fractures and dislocations. This treatise was mistakenly considered to be a translation of al-Zahrawi's book, a careful analysis of these 2 books shows that there are 137 different observations and suggestions (2,5,6).…”

“…In his treatise, he recommended surgical management of several neurosurgical diseases such as craniospinall trauma, epilepsy, headache, facial palsy, low back pain, sciatica, hydrocephalus, spinal deformity, vertebral fracture and dislocations especially in children (2,5). He also gave possible complications after surgery in details which we can't see in the books of surgery at that age (6).…”

The first Turkish illustrated surgical textbook ‘Cerrahiyetü’l-Haniyye’

“…Famous Turkish doctor Sabuncuoğlu ( Fig. 1) served as a clinician, trainer, and researcher for 14 years in Amasya Darussifa [1][2][3]. Sabuncuoğlu wrote three books which are named as Terceme-i Akrabadin, Mücerrebname, and Cerrahiyetü'l-Haniyye [1,2].…”

“…In Cerrahiyetü'l-Haniyye, there are pictures of instruments which are used as treatment. These miniature and pictures of instruments were evaluated on many publications [1][2][3][5][6][7], and this situation shows how valuable the book is.…”

Pediatric neurosurgical techniques in the 15th century

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Cerrahiyyetü 'l Haniyye [Imperial Surgery], written in Old Turkish in 1465 by Sabuncuoglu at the age of 80, includes colored illustrations and descriptions of reduction techniques and surgical therapies, including incisions and cauterization procedures for the management of various neurosurgical diseases. 1,2,6,7,9,10 Furthermore, the colorfully miniaturized and illustrated textbook includes definitions of certain surgical diseases and their etiologies, and descriptions of various surgical instruments, from a wide range of surgical specialities, including pediatric neurosurgery. There are only three original handwritten copies of the book, in existence, one in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris 4 and the other two in the Fatih Millet Library and the Department of Medical History of the _ Istanbul University Medical School in _ Istanbul.…”