Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Department of History and Ethnology, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece.
Museum for the History of Medicine, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Int J Paleopathol. 2021 Dec;35:8-21. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2021.07.008. Epub 2021 Aug 24.
The study presents seven new cases of trepanations on four individuals from the ancient Greek colony of Akanthos (5th - 1st c. BC) and juxtaposes the paleopathological observations with the Hippocratic treatises.
A meta-analysis of 42 published trepanations on 27 individuals from Greece.
Trepanations from Akanthos were observed macroscopically, stereoscopically and by computer tomography. The meta-analysis considers the demographic, geographical and temporal distribution, the techniques, associated pathology, and survival rate.
Trepanations were observed on four females in Akanthos. Three trepanations were performed with scraping and four with drilling. Two individuals exhibited significant signs of healing, and two survived shortly after the operation. In two cases, trepanation was practiced for treating cranial injuries. In Greek antiquity trepanation was performed predominantly in males, principally as a surgical treatment of cranial injuries. The survival rate was 62.9 %. Scraping was the oldest, most frequent and successful technique.
Trepanation performed systematically in Greece since the Bronze Age (ca. 2,000 BC). Hippocrates who rationally conceived medicine, codified the pre-existing empirical knowledge. The trepanations from Akanthos show technical similarities but also discrepancies from the Hippocratic recommendations, confirming the mental and technical readiness of the ancient surgeon.
The synchronous to Hippocrates trepanations from Akanthos, provide the opportunity to compare physical evidence with the written sources.
The frequency of trepanations is affected by the representativeness and the state of the skeletal preservation.
Trepanations published in previous decades, need to be reassessed with new imaging modalities. A standard recording methodology is fundamental for data comparison.
本研究呈现了来自古希腊殖民地阿坎托斯（公元前 5 世纪至 1 世纪）的四个人体上的七个新的颅骨钻孔案例，并将古病理学观察与希波克拉底的论文并列。
对来自希腊的 27 个人的 42 个已发表的颅骨钻孔进行了荟萃分析。
对阿坎托斯的颅骨钻孔进行了宏观、立体和计算机断层扫描观察。荟萃分析考虑了人口统计学、地理和时间分布、技术、相关病理学和存活率。
在阿坎托斯的四名女性中观察到颅骨钻孔。其中三种用刮削法进行，四种用钻孔法进行。有两个人表现出明显的愈合迹象，两个人在手术后不久幸存。在两个案例中，颅骨钻孔是为了治疗头部损伤而进行的。在古希腊，颅骨钻孔主要在男性中进行，主要是作为治疗头部损伤的手术。存活率为 62.9%。刮削是最古老、最常见和最成功的技术。
自青铜时代（约公元前 2000 年）以来，希腊系统地进行了颅骨钻孔。希波克拉底理性地构思了医学，并将现有的经验知识编纂成书。阿坎托斯的颅骨钻孔显示出技术上的相似之处，但也与希波克拉底的建议存在差异，这证实了古代外科医生的精神和技术准备。
与希波克拉底同期的阿坎托斯颅骨钻孔提供了将实物证据与书面来源进行比较的机会。
颅骨钻孔的频率受骨骼保存的代表性和状态的影响。
需要用新的成像方式重新评估前几十年发表的颅骨钻孔。标准的记录方法对于数据比较至关重要。
