SURGICAL INFECTION IN ART

The earliest images of medicine and surgery in Western art are from th e late Middle Ages. Although often attractive, at that time they were illustrative and mirrored the text on how to diagnose or treat a speci fic condition. These drawings in medieval manuscripts represent manage ment of abscesses, perianal infection and fistulas, amputation, and wo und dressings. With the Renaissance, art in all its forms flourished, and surgeons were represented at work draining carbuncles, infected bu rsae, and mastoiditis; managing ulcers, scrofula, and skin infections; and performing amputations. Specific diagnosis can be made, such as s treptococcal infection in the discarded leg of the miraculous transpla ntation performed by Saints Cosmas and Damian and in the works of Remb randt van Rijn and Frederic Bazille. Evocations of cytokine activity a re evident in works by Albrecht Durer, Edvard Munch, and James Tissot. The iconography of society's view of a surgeon is apparent and often not complimentary. The surgeon's art is a visual art. Astute observati on leads to early diagnosis and better results in surgical infection a nd the septic state. Learning to see what we look at enhances our appr eciation of the world around us but, quite specifically, makes us bett er clinicians.