History of dermatologic surgery. From the beginnings to late antiquity.

We stop short, with Celsus, our glimpse of ancient dermatologic surgery in the West. As was stated at the beginning of the chapter, only a few examples and speculations are mentioned in this brief account. Much has gone unmentioned, including the contributions of great Eastern civilizations, such as ancient India, China, and Persia; the Bible; and the "ancient" inhabitants of the "new" world. We note especially the omission of the amazing ancient Hindu cosmetic operations that successfully employed rotating pedicle flaps in reconstructing amputated ears and noses. Important names before Celsus are missing from this account, especially the two Alexandrian physician-surgeons who flourished three centuries earlier--Herophilus (the Father of Anatomy) and Erasistratus (the Father of Physiology). Except for a few extant anatomic fragments, the works of Herophilus and Erasistratus are completely lost. We may with confidence, however, infer from the writings of Celsus and Galen that the brillant anatomy and physiology of the Alexandrian period made for good surgical diagnosis and practice. We must remember, too, that after Celsus' time, the slow disintergration of the Roman Empire took more than 500 years. This period of 500 years saw a number of important Roman physician-surgeons who contributed significantly with daring new operations and original surgical concepts and techniques: Heliodorus, Soranus, Rufus, Archigenes, Galen, Antyllus, Leonides, Oribasius, Aetius, Paulus, and others. The positive surgical contributions of these giants would be lost and rediscovered, many times.