Account of Haly Abbas regarding the management of hydrocephalus in children: a text from medieval times

On the Surgical Treatments Related to Nephrological Issues in 'Alī b. al'Abbās al-Majūsī's (Haly Abbas) Kāmil al-Ṣinā'a al-Ṭibbiyya (The Perfect Book of the Art of Medicine)

OBJECTIVES

In this study, we translate from Arabic into English the chapters on surgical treatments related to nephrological issues in the ninth article of the second part of Haly Abbas' Kāmil al-Şinā'a al-Ṭibbiyya. Our aim was to contribute to the medical history literature, to compare these chapters with the relevant chapters in Paul of Aegina's Epitome, and to discuss findings in light of the related literature.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We examined the Cairo, Būlāq, copy of Kāmil al-Şinā'a al-Ṭibbiyya (printed in Arabic) and the manuscripts that are in the Istanbul University Rare Works Library, Yale University Library, and Süleymaniye Manuscript Library. We translated the chapters from Arabic to English. Translated chapters were then compared with the relevant chapters of Paul of Aegina's Epitome and discussed in light of the related literature.

RESULTS

Surgical treatments in nephrological issues are provided in Chapter 45 (On urination with a catheter) and Chapter 46 (On removing a stone from the bladder) of the ninth article of the second volume of Kāmil al-Şinā'a al-Ṭibbiyya. The same topics are covered in Section 59 (On catheterism and injection of the bladder) and Section 60 (On calculus) of Paul of Aegina's sixth book in the second volume. The information provided by Haly Abbas on these subjects was remarkably similar to the information provided by Paul of Aegina.

CONCLUSIONS

It is considered that Haly Abbas benefited from Paul of Aegina's knowledge of the causes of the bladder obstruction, the catheter to remove the accumulated urine, the catheter application technique, and all applications and treatments for stone removal.