One of the Earliest Accounts of Head Wounds in Firdaws al-Ḥikma by al-Ṭabarī from the 9th Century.

OBJECTIVE

To present the first Arabic text on suturing scalp wounds.

METHODS

A related section entitled "On the wounds in the head" from the book Firdaws al-Ḥikma (Paradise of the Wisdom) written by al-Ṭabarī in the 9th century was identified and analyzed. This work was one of the earliest medical compendiums in the Islamic world during the medieval period. A printed copy of Firdaws al-Ḥikma edited by Muḥammad Zubayr al-Ṣiddīqī was examined, and findings were compared with relevant knowledge in the literature.

RESULTS

A notable part of this text is based on appropriate closure of scalp wounds using sutures. Before this work, only the well-known Indian medical book Suśruta-Saṃhitā had mentioned closure of scalp wounds using sutures. In his work, al-Ṭabarī recommended using materials made of silk or linen for suturing. He additionally proposed some recipes that have a coating feature that prevents bleeding from the wound after it was closed properly. He also dealt with persistent swelling and provided formulas for solving the problem with special compositions.

CONCLUSIONS

Firdaws al-Ḥikma is a noteworthy work in the history of medicine, and it includes a unique chapter on head wounds. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first mention of suturing scalp cuts in Arabic literature and the second reference in medical literature after the Indian work Suśruta-Saṃhitā.