Journal - International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine

Albucasis and Extraction of Bladder Stone*
Abdul Nasser Kaadan, MD, PhD*
* Head of History of Medicine Department, Institute for the History of Arabic Science
Aleppo University, Aleppo - Syria The Scretary General of ISHIM (www.ishim.net)
e-mail : a.kaadan@scs-net.org
Albucasis (Al-Zahrawi) is Abul-Kasem Khalaf
Ibn Abbas Alzahrawi, believed to have been born in
the city of Al-Zahra, six miles northwest of Cordoba,
sometime between 936 and 940. It was here that he
lived, studied, taught and practiced medicine and surgery
until shortly before his death in about 1013, two
years after the sacking of Al-Zahra.
Little is known about Albucasis. He was first
mentioned by the Andalusian scholar Abu
Muhammad bin Hazm (993-1064), who listed him
among the great physician- surgeons of Moorish
Spain. The first known biography of Albucasis, however,
appeared in al-Humaydi’s Jadhwat al-Muqtabis,
completed six decades after Albucasis death.
It is clear from Albucasis life history and from his
writings that he devoted his entire life and genius to
the advancement of medicine as a whole and surgery
in particular. He wrote a medical encyclopedia spanning
30 treatises which included sections on surgery,
medicine, orthopedics, ophthalmology, pharmacology,
nutrition etc. This book is entitled At-Tasrif
Liman Ajiza Anil Taalif (The book of enabling him to
manage who cannot cope with the compilations) and
contained data that Albucasis had accumulated during
a career that spanned almost 50 years of training,
teaching and practice.
In At-Tasrif book Albucasis insisted on compliance
with ethical norms and warned against dubious
practices adopted by some physicians for purposes of
Summary
In the sixtieth chapter of the thirtieth treatise of Al-Tasrif book, Albucasis wrote on stone extraction from the urinary bladder.
Albucasis invented a new lithotomy scalpel with 2 sharp cutting edges and he made a drawing for it. The innovation in the technique
of perineal cystolithotomy, introduced by Albucasis, was of considerable practical anatomical significance. The aim of this paper is
to shed light on the contribution of Albucasis in the field of Bladder Stone extraction.
Key Words; Albucasis, Al-Zahrawi, History of Medicine, Bladder stone.
material gain. He also cautioned against quacks who
claimed surgical skills they did not possess.
In the section on pharmacology and therapeutics,
he covers areas such as cardiac drugs, emetics, laxatives,
cosmetology, dietetics, materia medica,
weights and measures and drug substitution.
Albucasis had a tremendous influence on surgery
in the west. The French surgeon Guy de Chauliac in
his ‘Great Surgery’, completed in about 1363, quoted
At-Tasrif over 200 times. Albucasis was described by
Pietro Argallata (died 1423) as “without doubt the
chief of all surgeons”. Jaques Delechamps (1513-
1588), another French surgeon, made extensive use
of At-Tasrif book in his elaborate commentary, confirming
the great prestige of Albucasis throughout the
Middle Ages and up to the Renaissance.
The last, thirtieth, treatise of this book, which is
related to surgery, is the most famous and important.
This treatise was translated into Latin by Gerard of
Cremona in the second half of the twelfth century. In
France there is a Hebraic translation with surgical
instruments schemes. The first edition of Albucasis
book was published in Venice in 1497, then more than
twenty editions appeared in many different European
cities. In the fifteenth century a Turkish translation was
made by Sharaf al-Din ibn Ali al-Hajj Ilyas, and characterized
by it beautiful pictures. The first modern edition
with a Latin translation appeared at Oxford in 1778
by John Channing. While French translation appeared
28 JISHIM 2004, 3