title: [Bladder stone surgery in antiquity].
abstract: Bladder stone with subsequent urinary retention was a common and challenging disease up to the 19 th century, and still is in tropical countries. Surgery has been used to remove stones (lithotomy) or to break them into small pieces (lithotripsy) since antiquity. If surgery was impossible, the urinary retention could be relieved with a catheter. The surgical technique for bladder stone remained unchanged up to the 16 th century, and some of its principles are still employed in urology. This article translates parts of Aulus Cornelius Celsus' treatise on bladder stone, found in his encyclopedia "De Medicina". The text is compared with archaeological findings from Pompeii.
authors: Kirurgisk avdeling Institutt for klinisk medisin Det medisinske fakultet Universitetet i Tromsø 9037 Tromsø
authors: Haakon
authors: H
authors: Lindekleiv
authors: Paal André
authors: PA
authors: Skjaerpe
authors: Jan
authors: J
authors: Due
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008096:Lithotripsy / Q000266:history; D008297:Male; D008488:Medical Illustration / Q000266:history; D013525:Surgical Instruments / Q000266:history; D001744:Urinary Bladder Calculi / Q000266:history / Q000601:surgery*; D013520:Urologic Surgical Procedures / Q000266:history / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods