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Of Medicine, in Eight Books

Chapter 185: CHAP. XXXIII. OF THE OPERATION REQUIRED IN A GANGRENE.
By Aulus Cornelius Celsus
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About This Book

It gathers medical knowledge into eight concise books that combine clinical observation, diagnosis, prognosis, and practical treatment. Chapters cover diet and regimen, descriptions of internal diseases and external injuries, medicinal preparations, and operative techniques with instructions for wound care and minor surgery. The text emphasizes careful observation and clear symptom description, pairing theoretical causes with hands-on remedies and measurements. Explanatory notes and technical detail support immediate clinical use, making the collection a practical reference for assessing, managing, and treating a broad range of conditions.

CHAP. XXXIII. OF THE OPERATION REQUIRED IN A GANGRENE.

I have elsewhere observed, that a gangrene comes about the nails, armpits or groin; and that if it does not yield to medicines, the member ought to be cut off.

But even this is attended with very great danger: for the patients often die in the operation, either by a hæmorrhage, or faintings. But in this, as well as other cases, it is not to be considered, whether the remedy is very safe, which is the only one we have. Between the sound and corrupted part then, an incision must be made with a knife in the flesh, as far as the bone. But this must not be done over a joint; and some of the sound part must rather be cut off, than any of the corrupt left. When we come to the bone, the sound flesh must be drawn back from it, and cut below round the bone, that some part of the bone may also be laid bare under it; then the bone must be cut off with a saw, as close as we can to the sound flesh, that still adheres to it; and then the fore part of the bone, that has been roughened with the saw, must be smoothed, and the skin brought over it; which in a cure of this kind ought to be lax, that it may cover the bone as much as possible all round. The part, which the skin does not reach, must be covered with lint, and above that a spunge squeezed out of vinegar must be tied on the place. The remaining part of the cure must be the same, as I have directed in wounds which are brought to digestion(36).