title: Surgical pain management at the Medical School of Salerno (11th-13th centuries).
abstract: Before the advent of general anesthesia, only poorly effective remedies were known to relieve pain. Although classical medical authorities describe a number of elaborate surgical techniques, no references about some forms of anesthesia are reported. Only the authors of pharmaceutical or botanical texts mention the use of substances, especially mandrake, to induce sleep in the patient. The first and most detailed evidences of general anesthesia described in medical texts of the western world can be found at the Medical School of Salerno. However, the use of substances aimed to relieve pain or to induce sleep during surgery is mentioned only by the authors of pharmaceutical or botanical texts and not by surgeons. Furthermore, the efficacy of these preparations to produce a profound and lasting sleep is doubtful. The general impression is that surgeons knew how to relieve pain, but considered it a necessary appendix of surgery and therefore an incisive effort to eliminate it was not pursued.
authors.affiliation: Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, Division of Paleopathology and History of Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Giuffra
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000266:history* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D049691:History, Medieval; D007558:Italy; D010146:Pain / Q000266:history / Q000601:surgery; D059408:Pain Management / Q000266:history*; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000266:history*