Sushruta on human dissection as pre-requisite to surgery / Sushruta sobre la disección humana como requisito previo a la cirugía

SUMMARY: In the western surgical tradition there has been little acknowledgement of the ancient Vedic surgeon Sushruta who initiated many aspects of surgical practice. In his compendium the Sushruta Samhita, Sushruta systematised medicine in various areas. His meticulous knowledge in many branches of medicine is evident. A brilliant surgeon, he developed plastic surgical techniques, types of bandaging, hygiene practices and over one hundred surgical instruments. In this article, I focus on Sushruta's ideas on human dissection as a pre-requisite for surgery, his method of preparation of human cadavers and his anatomical pedagogy. Sushruta pioneered the instruction of cadaveric based anatomical learning which is still being used in medical teaching.

RESUMEN: En la tradición quirúrgica occidental existe escaso reconocimiento del antiguo cirujano védico Sushruta, quien inició muchos aspectos de la práctica quirúrgica. En su compen-dio, el Sushruta Samhita, Sushruta sistematizó la medicina en varias áreas. Es evidente su meticuloso conocimiento en muchas ramas de la medicina. Cirujano brillante, desarrolló técnicas de cirugía plástica, tipos de vendajes, prácticas de higiene y más de cien instrumentos quirúrgicos. El enfoque de este artículo se centra en las ideas de Sushruta sobre la disección humana como requisito previo para la cirugía, su método de preparación de cadáveres humanos y su pedagogía anatómica. Sushruta fue pionero en la instrucción del aprendizaje anatómico basado en cadáveres que todavía se utiliza en la enseñanza médica.

Pharmacodynamic appraisal of wound-healing herbs of Sushruta Samhita.

Background: In Sushruta Samhita, various medicinal plants as single and compound formulations having Vrana-Shodhana (wound cleansing) and Vrana-Ropana (wound healing) potential are enumerated. There are no published data available on these wound-healing medicinal plants of Sushruta Samhita. The effectivee management of wound is necessary in the immunocompromised and chronic wounds patients as they take more time to heal. Aim: To review and systematically analyze wound-healing medicinal plants and their modus-operandi on the basis of pharmacodynamics attributes, i.e., Rasa (taste), Veerya (potency), and Vipaka (biotransformation) in the various stages of healing. Materials and methods: Review of Sushruta Samhita was done to gather wound-healing medicinal plants; pharmacodynamics attributes were gatherd from various Nighantus to understand their role in wound healing. The contemporary information about wound-healing mechanism was gathered from PubMed to interpitate the rational use of plants in the various stages of wound healing. Results: The study suggests that 43 medicinal plants have Vrana-Shodhana activity, 48 have Vrana-Ropana and 62 have both Vrana-Shodhana and Vrana-Ropana potential. Medicinal plants with Vrana-Shodhana category are having predominance of Katu (pungent), Tikta (bitter) and Kashaya (astriengent) Rasa. Plants under Vrana-Ropana are having Madhura, Kashaya Rasa (sweet taste), Madhura Vipaka (sweet biotransform) and Sheeta Veerya (cold potency). Conclusion: Plants having Tikta, Kashaya Rasa, Katu Vipaka, and Sheeta Veerya may be useful in the inflammatory stage, plants having Madhura, Kashaya Rasa and Sheeta Veerya may be useful in the prolifiratory stage and plants having Madhura Rasa, Sheeta Veerya, and Madhura Vipaka may be useful in the remodeling stage. The present review will help to give the directions to the researchers for the development of effective wound-healing medicines for wounds.

Enigma in paraphrasing Ayurvedic Grantha.

Three different axioms of Sushruta Samhita-Sharira Sthana were analyzed and its translations by respectable translators were studied. The different Sanskrit terms were also analyzed using Monier-Williams and Apte Sanskrit dictionaries as a part of intercomparison study. The Sanskrit terms used in Ayurveda are those which seem to be commonly used, but their meanings are not the same as commonly understood or known. The article is an attempt to understand this ancient wisdom from Sushruta Samhita so as to highlight the peculiarities of Ayurvedic concepts and remove the bigotry regarding the use of common Sanskrit terms for explaining Rachana Sharira (anatomy) this will further help for the correct translation of Samhita. Axioms 4-22, 4-31 and 5-28 of Sushruta Samhita-Sharira Sthana are clinically important, because the clinical acumen is based on the correct knowledge of the human body.

Sushruta in 600 B.C. introduced extraocular expulsion of lens material.

It is generally accepted that Jacques Daviel introduced in the 18th century the extracapsular technique of extraction of the lens while the couching method of cataract operation had already been practiced since ancient times. Present study analyses the first known cataract surgery description in three translations into English from the original Sanskrit Sushruta textbook and all the available literature on the subject. We found evidences that some sort of extraocular expulsion of lens material through a limbal puncture (paracentesis) was described by the Indian surgeon. Nevertheless, this incision cannot be considered as a classic extracapsular procedure because it was not large enough to allow the extraction of the entire lens.

sushruta-samhitA: A critical review Part - 2: Few new additions.

In this part importace and specialize of sushruta are specified. In Part - 1 all the translation works in all the available languages is narrated. After studying all those books and keeping in to mind about a comprehensive work of sushruta it is necessary to elaborate in this present text. This part is divided into 5 sections. (A) All available commentaries taken in to consideration for this part is written, (B) Specialities of sushruta are most important as he has narrated all eight sections of Ayurveda elabroted widely where as caraka has only narrated mainly selected part of kAya-cikitsA and left other sections for other authors e.g., "atra dhAnavantareyaNAM adhikArah" etc., Specifying a list of all sections and chapters with the numbers of prose + poetery, (C) None of the translator or commentator touched the importance of sushruta in the literature of samskRta, where as sushruta was a great poet. Giving similar resemblance of common use by mass, he tried to explain the tough subject in simpler mode of knowledge for proper understanding to all public. He has specifically selected the prosody for the specified subject. Examples are given in this section. (D) sushruta has written prosody in14 metres and long sentences too in samskRta that shows his ability and wast knowledge in the literature. All references of each and every metre is noted from all sections of sushruta with complete reference numbers. And no where this subject is published till now- (E) A challenging word regarding the work of sushruta "shArIre sushruto naSTah" is turned back while quoting various references of shArIra-sthAnam and placing its world wide importance by various writers.

Sushruta-samhitA - A critical Review Part-1 : Historical glimpse.

In the history of Ayurveda, Sushruta stands before Caraka. He practically applied Vaidika culture for treatment. His treatise translated into nine foreign languages apart from various Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, etc., Sushruta is the most celebrated physician and surgeon in India. Though he practiced during the 5th century BC, many of his contributions to medicine and surgery preceded similar discoveries in the western world. Sushruta devotes a complete volume of his experiences to ophthalmologic diseases. In the Uttara Tantram, Sushruta enumerates a sophisticated classification of eye diseases complete with signs, symptoms, prognosis, and medical/surgical interventions. In particular, Sushruta describes what may have been the first extracapsular cataract surgery using a sharply pointed instrument with a handle fashioned into a trough. His ability to manage many common eye conditions of the time with limited diagnostic aids is a testament to his virtuosity.