J. Lascaratos et D. Assimakopoulos, Surgery on the larynx and pharynx in Byzantium (AD 324-1453): Early scientific descriptions of these operations, OTO H N SUR, 122(4), 2000, pp. 579-583
We present the techniques of various operations on the larynx and pharynx (
incision of abscesses of the tonsils, tonsillectomy, tracheotomy, uvulectom
y, and removal of foreign bodies) found in the Greek texts of Byzantine phy
sicians. The techniques of these operations were the first to be so meticul
ously described and were compiled from the texts, now lost, of the ancient
Greek physicians. These medical texts, which followed and enriched the Hipp
ocratic, Hellenistic, Roman, and Galenic medical traditions, later influenc
ed medieval European surgery, either directly through Latin translations or
indirectly through works of Arab physicians.