The fact that in antiquity they performed operations to open the skull to people is a well-known fact that is increasingly being confirmed. Recently, an article was published in an English-language scientific journal that the technique of craniotomy in Siberia has been restored. The research was carried out by specialists from the Institute for Problems of the Development of the North of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Novosibirsk State University, and OOO Krasnoyarsk Geoarcheology.
Scientists examined the skull found in the oil pipeline II burial in the Krasnoyarsk Territory near the former settlement of Anzhevka on the right bank of the Kan River. Since the discovered burial has long been plundered, only a few bones have survived from the skeleton. There was also a skull. In the left parietal bone there is an oblong hole of irregular shape - a trace of trepanation.
Based on literary data and ethnographic materials, researchers tried to reconstruct the main stages of this operation. Probably, the patient was lying on his back, his head turned to the right, and the doctor was facing him, to the left of the patient. Or the surgeon clamped the patient's head between the knees or with his left hand, and acted with his right. Perhaps he had an assistant.
First of all, the skin and underlying tissues were cut to the bone, in which a hole was then made. It has an elongated shape with almost vertical lateral edges. Such holes are obtained by scraping, which, judging by other findings, was the main method of trepanning in different parts of the world. However, ancient surgeons cut, sawed, or drilled bones as needed. It is not known what tools were used and what they were made of.
A great danger to the patient was the profuse bleeding that occurred after the skin incision. To reduce blood loss and relieve pain, surgeries had to be performed as quickly as possible. How bleeding was stopped in ancient times is unknown. Perhaps herbs, decoctions, or moxibustion. Herbs could be used for pain relief.
Judging by the number of people who survived craniotomy, the qualifications of ancient surgeons were quite high. Infectious complications occurred in about 15% of cases; in modern neurosurgical operations, their frequency is 4–12%.
The patient, whose skull was examined by Siberian scientists, also survived the operation. Although the wound became inflamed and healed for a long time. The cause of his death can no longer be established.
Trepanation is a surgical operation to create a hole in the bone tissue of the skull in order to access the underlying cavity. As a rule, the operation is used to provide access to intracranial formations with the aim of their subsequent removal.
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It is interesting that trepanation in ancient times was done not only for medical purposes - for head injuries, for example. In Tibet, even in ancient times, it was noticed that people most often acquire the gift of clairvoyance after a brain injury. And we set out to open the “third eye” artificially. A monk selected according to special principles underwent an operation, often associated with a fatal outcome. A hole was drilled in the middle of the forehead, for several days it was closed with a wooden wedge with healing ointments and allowed to overgrow.