ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on specific examples of procedures and surgical operations, which demonstrate the high standards of excellence attained by surgeons in ancient India. Treatment of fractures is a good subject to begin with, as they were common in times of peace and war and Susruta dealt with them exhaustively. The surgical procedures described by Susruta including the treatment of fractures gradually faded from the mainstream of Ayurveda and Vaidyas no longer performed them; dissection of cadavers to learn human anatomy – even though practiced in rotting bodies – became a distant memory, and references to surgery became minimal in Ayurvedic texts. It was as if the sun had set on Susruta’s surgical legacy too soon. Foreign bodies embedded in body tissues were a major concern in ancient times. Susruta Samhita recommends a number of medicinal pastes, which cleanse the wounds in case of compound fractures and promote healing.
