University of Washington School of Medicine, 502 E Boone Avenue, Spokane, WA, 99258, USA.
Boise State University, 1910 W University Dr, Boise, ID, 83725, USA.
Am J Surg. 2022 Aug;224(2):790-793. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2022.03.047. Epub 2022 Apr 1.
The Ancient Mesopotamian civilization, the earliest known, emerged in the fourth millennium BCE. While the advent of medicine is established, there is little understanding of surgery's origins. We sought to describe the characteristics and medical acumen of the surgeons of the first civilization.
Source documents and commentary on Mesopotamian medicine were systematically analyzed for evidence of surgery and physician descriptions.
Early tablets reveal evidence of the incisional drainage of a scalp abscess and empyema, advanced wound care, fracture alignment, and possible caesarians without evidence of wound suturing, emergency procedures, trephination, or circumcision. While the asû and āšipu understood disease processes, strong evidence of an inextricable connection between spiritual and diagnostic/curative roles exists.
Mesopotamian physicians were diagnosticians and healers, approaching surgery as part of their holistic practice rather than a separate entity. Surgery was utilized as an endpoint to a careful process aided by objective evaluation and spiritual incantation.
已知最早的古代美索不达米亚文明出现在公元前四千年。尽管医学的出现已经确立，但对手术起源的了解甚少。我们试图描述第一个文明的外科医生的特点和医学洞察力。
系统地分析了美索不达米亚医学的原始资料和评论，以寻找手术和医生描述的证据。
早期的石板显示出头皮脓肿和脓胸切开引流、先进的伤口护理、骨折对线以及可能的剖腹产的证据，但没有伤口缝合、急诊程序、环钻或割礼的证据。虽然 asû 和 āšipu 了解疾病过程，但精神与诊断/治疗作用之间存在不可分割联系的有力证据。
美索不达米亚医生是诊断师和治疗师，他们将手术视为整体实践的一部分，而不是一个单独的实体。手术是在客观评估和精神咒语的帮助下，通过精心的过程达到的终点。
