Surgery in the Medieval Age

Why did medieval surgery develop?

There were many wars across Europe, such as the Crusades, so doctors and surgeons had the opportunity to experiment with new techniques

Who were important medieval surgeons?

John Bradmore, Hugh and Theodoric of Lucca, barber surgeons

What did John Bradmore do?

He used honey and wine as antiseptics after Henry IV’s son was shot in the cheek with an arrow - he made a full recovery and became Henry V

What did Hugh and Theodoric of Lucca do?

They were Italian surgeons who questioned the idea that pus in a wound was a sign of it healing, so used wine to clean wounds as it had antiseptic properties. Theodoric also experimented with herbal remedies as anaesthetics

What did barber surgeons do?

They were skilled in cutting hair and carrying out basic surgery, such as teeth pulling, amputations and bloodletting

What were some of the problems with surgery?

Anaesthetics weren’t often used (so the patient usually felt considerable pain), but high doses of anaesthetics could kill, sometimes the pain was so great that the patient died from shock, post surgery infection was common and often resulted in death, since there was no understanding of bacteria, dirty surgical instruments were often used and were a sign of the surgeon’s expertise