The Father of Cosmetic Surgery & "ancient rhinoplasty"

The Father of Cosmetic Surgery & "ancient rhinoplasty"
In the 6th century BCE a Indian physician named Shushruta wrote the Shushruta Samhita, a vast book on the skills and techniques he had performed as a surgeon during his lifetime.  The book covers a wide range of topics, including the use of medicinal plants, the diagnoses and treatment of illnesses, caring for wounds, first aid, and the performance of various surgical techniques.  

Of the many surgical techniques he describes, perhaps his most interesting was the use of cosmetic surgery to repair damaged facial features. Warfare was common in ancient India, as were many types of facial injuries sustained as a result.  Shushruta describes a number of procedures to repair facial injuries, but his most detailed was an early form of rhinoplasty (nose repair).  The technique involves the incision and folding of a flap of skin from the forehead.  This piece of skin, called a pedicle graft, was then folded downward and formed into the shape of a nose.  Two pieces of bamboo were inserted into the new “nose” to form nostrils.  Eventually the pedicle would fuse together as it healed, forming a new nose.  The wound to the forehead would also heal and grow new skin, leaving a scar.  Shushruta mentions several techniques performed before and after the surgery to help minimize scaring and pain.  An alternative method was also mentioned which used the skin of a cheek as a substitute.

Shushruta’s rhinoplasty methods continued to be used in ancient, medieval, and colonial era India.  In 1792 the procedure was first introduced to the the west when the British surgeons Thomas Crusoe and James Findlay witnessed the rhinoplasty of a former soldier named Kawasji.  The account was published in The Gentleman’s Magazine of London, describing it as an operation “not uncommon in India and has been practiced for time immemorial”.  Shushruta’s techniques would be resurrected after World War I, when surgeons reinvented and rediscovered his techniques to help treat gravely disfigured soldiers.  The rhinoplasty techniques used by Post WWI cosmetic surgeons over two thousand years later would have certainly been familiar to Shushruta.

Sources and further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushruta_Samhita
http://www.baps.org/Spiritual-Living/Weekly-Satsang/Enlightening-Essays/Sushrut-(Father-of-Cosmetic-Surgery)-2155.aspx
Images via Wikimedia Commons