Tracheotomy
The success of oral cancer surgery depends on appropriate airway management; therefore, tracheotomy is a key procedure.
History
2950 to 2800 BC
The first images of a tracheotomy may date as far back as Ancient Egypt. On two stone plates dated to the first dynasty (2950–2800 BC), two people are depicted sitting or kneeling next to each other, one of them touching the upper thorax of the other with a knifelike object. Whether these images in fact depict a tracheotomy is, however, highly controversial.
128 to 60 BC
From the writings of Galen (129–199 AD), we know that Asclepiades (128–60 BC), Cicero′s personal physician who practiced medicine in Rome, suggested opening the trachea as a measure of last resort to avoid asphyxiation. Via the Arab world, the knowledge of this technique was eventually brought to the Occident under the name of “subscannatio,” meaning “cutting the throat.”
Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel
Full access? Get Clinical Tree
