Surgery on varices in Byzantine times (324-1453 CE)

Abstract

Objectives: The purposes of this article are to describe Byzantine varicose vein surgery and to note its influence on the development of these operations after that time. A study and analysis of the original texts of the Byzantine physicians, written in Greek and containing the now mostly lost knowledge of the earlier Hellenistic and Roman periods, was undertaken. Results: The Byzantines paid special attention to varicosis surgery from the early period of the empire. The famous fourth-century (CE) physician Oribasius meticulously described a number of surgical methods of confronting varicosis, some of which were derived from the texts of earlier Greek surgeons, to which he added his own keen observations. Later, eminent Byzantine physicians developed these techniques further and evaluated their usefulness. Conclusions: The study of Byzantine medical texts proves that several surgical techniques on varicosis were widely practiced in Byzantine times and were derived from the work of ancient Greek and Roman physicians. The techniques described had a great influence on western medieval and later European surgery, thus constituting significant roots of modern angiology.