Ancient Islamic Surgeons and Eye Cataracts

Ancient Hindu and Middle Eastern Islamic surgeons knew a lot about eye cataracts, relatively speaking, and one important medical text, called the _Sushruta Samhita_, exists from about 1500 years ago that detailed how a specialist might remove them from a suffering patient. As this manuscript illustration shows, the knowledge from India made its way to the Middle East by the eighth century. If you’d like a description, make sure you haven’t just eaten and read on ahead . . .
The _Sushruta Samhita_ states: “incense of cannabis is used in addition to wine for sedation . . . . The patient sits on a high stool [and his] hands are secured with proper fastenings. The patient is asked to look at his own nose. . . . [His] eye is entered at the junction of the medial and lateral two-thirds of the outer portion of the sclera. If a sound is produced following the gushing of a watery fluid, the needle is in the correct place, but if the puncture is followed by bleeding, the needle is misplaced. The eye is then sprinkled with breast milk. Care is taken to avoid blood vessels in the region. The tip of the needle is then used to infuse the anterior capsule of the lens. With the needle in this position, the patient is asked to blow down the nostril, while closing the opposite naris. After this, lens material (Kapha) is seen coming alongside the needle. When the patient is able to perceive objects, the needle is removed . . . .”. Given the times, what surgeons got correct about cataract removal seems highly progressive. But I hope your day was much better than the one the patient shown here was likely to have had.