Rhazes’ (865–925 CE) contribution to surgery in Liber Almansoris

Abstract

Background

Surgery has deep historical roots. Rhazes (865–925 CE), a Persian physician, made a significant contribution to the development of medical sciences in the medieval era. Liber Almansoris is one of his significant works on medicine. This book is a medical textbook for medical students. It covers every aspect of the medical sciences. This article discusses Rhazes’ contribution to surgery, based on Liber Almansoris.

Method

This study examines Rhazes’ contribution to surgery, based on his book, Liber Almansoris.

Results

Rhazes’s Liber Almansoris contains a chapter (seventh chapter) on orthopedics, which includes surgical approaches. This chapter also describes surgical procedures for traumas and skull fractures. In other chapters, he also recommends surgical options for treating certain complications when discussing different treatment methods.

Discussion

Although Rhazes mentioned surgical procedures as a medical treatment method, he did not include a separate chapter on surgery. This strategy can be found in his other medical works, such as Liber Continens or Al-Hawi. It appears that Rhazes adheres to the Galenic (Greek) perspective on surgery. In this context, surgery is not an independent major but a method that a physician can employ as needed. It differs from an alternative approach in that era that adheres to ancient Persian perspectives, which identified surgery as a major like other medical sciences disciplines.

Keywords:

• Surgery
• Persian medicine
• history of medicine
• medieval era

Acknowledgment

We have special thanks to Dr. Hamed Arezaei, because of his help to obtain required information about Ibn Quff surgical text.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study (the file of the book of Liber Almansoris) is available from the corresponding author, AZ, upon reasonable request.