Inhalation & Oral anesthesia

by Meam Wye on June 3, 2009

The Muslim surgeons of the medieval Islamic world are credited for the discovery and use of general inhalation anesthesia.

Anaesthetic sponges dipped in a mixture of cannabis, opium, hyoscyamus and Zoan were placed on patient's face. Sigrid Hunke wrote in "Allah Sonne Uber Abendland, Unser Arabische Erbe". Second edition, pp. 279-280, Arabic Text, 1969:

"The science of medicine has gained a great and extremely important discovery and that is the use of general anesthetics for surgical operations, and how unique, efficient, and merciful for those who tried it the Muslim anaesthetic was. It was quite different from the drinks the Indians, Romans and Greeks were forcing their patients to have for relief of pain. There had been some allegations to credit this discovery to an Italian or to an Alexandrian, but the truth is and history proves that, the art of using the anaesthetic sponge is a pure Muslim technique, which was not known before. The sponge used to be dipped and left in a mixture prepared from cannabis, opium, hyoscyamus and a plant called Zoan."

Both oral and inhalant anaesthesia were used to perform numerous surgeries. Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyā Rāzī(Latin name Rhazes), 850-923, is known to be first Physician who used anaesthetic sponges to perform surgeries. Al-Zahrawi (Latin name Abulcasis), 936-1013, who is considered as the 'Father of Modern Surgery' and who wrote a 30 volume medical encyclopedia 'Kitab al-Tasrif ' (The Method of Medicine) of about 1500 pages in 1000 AD has written about anesthesia in Al-Tasrif.

Ibn Sina(Latin name Avicenna), 980-1037,who is regarded as the 'Father of Modern Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology', has made many references to anesthetic practices in his 14-volume medical encyclopedia 'Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb' (The Canon of Medicine). Describing the anesthetic properties of Mandragora, he mentions in 'canon' that if an organ needs to be amputated mandragora is to be given to induce sleep:

"When ingested or inserted into the anus or inhaled it causes a state of drunkenness. It is sometimes taken to treat insomnia but to induce sleep more of it is used. Some doctors reverse its effects by sitting (the patient) in cold water until he wakes up. Mandragora also reduces sensation and is therefore used before incising or cauterizing because (the patient) will not feel the pain as a result of both the analgesic and anesthetic effects. Following ingestion hallucination and sleep occur that last three to four hours. Also, from the leaves of mandragora, a concoction is produced which can be given to those who have need for amputation."

Ibn Zuhr(Latin name Avenzoar), 1091-1161, is regarded as the  'Father of Experimental Surgery' and 'Father of Parasitology'. In muslim Spain he performed numerous surgeries by using anaesthetic sponges. One of Ibn Zuhr's famous work is 'Kitab al-Taisir fi al-Mudawat wa al-Tadbir' (Book of Simplification concerning Therapeutics and Diet) that describes his numerous contributions in this field.