Anesthetic and analgesic practices
in Avicenna's Canon of Medicine
by
Aziz E, Nathan B, McKeever J.
Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospital, London, England.
Am J Chin Med. 2000;28(1):147-51.

ABSTRACT

Anesthetic and analgesic practices during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance are presented from a translation of the relevant sections of the Canon of Medicine by Avicenna (980-1037) one of the most widely read and authoritative textbooks of the period. Avicenna described tracheotomy, oropharyngeal intubation and a method for clearing upper airway secretions for the treatment of stridor and respiratory distress. He also identified certain plants with pharmacological action such as mandragora or nightshade, opium and henbane and gives various recipes for inducing both anesthesia and analgesia before surgery.

People
Avicenna
Anaesthesia
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The spongia somnifera
'My beloved chloroform'
'The secularisation of pain'
Acetylcholine/nicotinic receptors
Obstetric anaesthesia/John Snow

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