AMBROISE PARÉ – THE “FATHER OF SURGERY”

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História

Ambroise Paré – The “father of surgery”

HISTÓRIA

History

AMBROISE PARÉ – THE “FATHER OF SURGERY”

Ambroise Paré – O “Pai da Cirurgia”

Judit Forrai1

He was born in French, at Bourg-Hersent,
near Laval, in 1517. Paré had a long life till 1590.
In his family the profession of barber-surgeon
profession was very popular: his brother and his
bother-in-law were barber-surgeon. In his very early
life started to learn this craft and for a long time he
cured patients. He became the best French surgeon,
the “father of Surgery, the Court Surgeon to Four
Kings of France”, in the sixteenth century.

Paré became barber-surgeon at the Hôtel-
Dieu, Paris, surgeon in the army of Francis I (1536-
38), re-enlisted on the reopening of hostilities
(1542-44) and in 1545 began the study of anatomy
at Paris, under François-Jacques Dubois (Sylvius).
He was appointed field-surgeon and (1552)
became surgeon to King Henry II, in 1554
member of the Collège de St-Cosme, exempt from
taxation, and in 1563 first surgeon and
chamberlain to King Charles IX. In this time was
the religious fight between the Catholics and
Protestants. By a legend Paré was a Huguenot and
was spared during the St. Bartholomew’s night
(1572) by direct command of the King.

His pioneer work was chiefly in the
department of military surgery. His importance in
the development of modern surgery may be
compared with that of his contemporary, Andreas
Vesalius in the development of modern anatomy.

The chief services rendered by Paré are a
reform in the treatment of gunshot wounds and
the revival of the practice of ligating arteries after
amputation. From the time of Giovanni Vigo (c.
1460-1520), surgeon-in-ordinary to Pope Julius II,
gunshot wounds were classified as contused,
burned, and poisoned, and the last-named, on the
supposition that all gunshot wounds were poisoned
by powder, were cauterized with red-hot iron or
hot oil.

On one occasion, after a battle, Paré, not
having sufficient oil, applied ointment and
bandaged the wounds, and observed that the healing
process proceeded more favourably under this
treatment. His observations, published in 1545, gave
the impetus to a rational reform of the whole system
of dealing with wounds, and did away with the
theory of poisoned gunshot wounds.

1 CSc, DDS, Department of History of Medicine Semmelweis University of Budapest Hungary. e-mail: forjud@net.sote.hu

Clin. Pesq. Odontol., Curitiba, v.2, n.5/6, p. 447-450, jul./dez. 2006

447

Judit Forrai

In alchemy, like the highest science,
starting with the middle Ages, some alchemists
increasingly came to view these metaphysical aspects
as the true foundation of alchemy; and chemical
substances, physical states, and material processes
as mere metaphors for spiritual entities. The best
known goals of the alchemists were the
transmutation of common metals into gold or silver
the creation of a “panacea or the elixir of life,” a
remedy that supposedly would cure all diseases and
prolong life indefinitely; and the discovery of a
universal solvent.

The European alchemists invested much
effort on the search for the “philosopher’s stone”,
a legendary substance that was believed to be an
essential ingredient for either or both of those
goals. The philosopher’s stone was believed to
mystically amplify the user’s knowledge of alchemy
so much that anything was attainable. Alchemists
enjoyed prestige and support through the
centuries, though not for their pursuit of those
goals, nor the mystic and philosophical speculation
that dominates their literature.

Paracelsus, who based the modern
toxicology with his alchemist theories, formulated
tree laws: 1. the dose make poison, 2. the specificity
of toxic effects of individual chemicals, specificity due
to the unique chemical structure of the agent and
the laws of biology that govern the response. 3.
human are animals and therefore the study of animals
can provide useful insight into effects in human. The
poison preparation of extracts and liquors, and so
on (it seems that the preparation of aqua vitae, the
“water of life”, was a fairly popular “experiment”
among European alchemists; see also the article on
Aquavit, a liquor whose name means “water of life”).
In 1565, Ambroise Paré described an
experiment to test the properties of the Bezoars
Stone. At the time, the Bezoar stone was deemed
to be able to cure the effects of any poison, but Paré
believed this was impossible. It happened that a cook
at Paré’s court was caught stealing fine silver cutlery.
In his shame, the cook agreed to be poisoned. He
then used the Bezoars stone to no great avail as he
died in agony days after. Paré had proved that the

Bezoars stone could not cure all poisons as was
commonly believed at the time.

In all departments of surgery we find Paré
as an independent observer and thinker; but his
advanced notions encountered strong opposition
from part of the Paris faculty of medicine.

He is considered the father of modern
surgery due to some of his revolutionary treatment
methods in medicine. He also made a foray in to
the dental sciences. He described proper methods
for extracting teeth and incising of the gums to help
a tooth erupt. He also endorsed replacement of
missing teeth with implants made of bone and ivory.
He has one of the best and earliest written case
reports of successful tooth transplantation. A
princess had a maxillary anterior (upper front) tooth
extracted. This would just not do. A princess could
not go around missing a front tooth! So, a tooth
was taken from one of her maids, and placed into
the princess’ socket. After some healing time, she
was able to use this new tooth with ease and just as
well as if it was her own (Asbell, 1988). Sometimes
Paré extracted a good tooth, so in that minute he
replaced the good tooth. This was the beginning of
the auto implantation with very good reason .

Transplantation of teeth from one person
to another became commonplace in Europe from
the 1500’s until the early 1800’s. Teeth were bought
from poor people, taken by force from these people,
or obtained from “resurrections”, which got teeth
from the dead. This practice eventually lost favour
for many reasons.

After the extraction Paré bleed freely the
wound to eliminate the “morbid humor”. Than he
pressed the alveolus on both sides with his fingers.
So the wound could recovering “per primam”

Caries was treated by Paré with a method
of cauterization with acid, but he no mentioned
to filling the cavity. In several other respects Paré
was ahead of his time. He suspected that flies
carried disease, experimented with artificial limbs
and eyes, and used astringent red wine as an
antiseptic. His Method of Treating Gunshot Wounds
(1545) became an important textbook, and his
works were widely translated.

448

Clin. Pesq. Odontol., Curitiba, v.2, n.5/6, p. 447-450, jul./dez. 2006

História

Ambroise Paré – The “father of surgery”

One Hunting for Teeth: Plate 12 of Los Caprichos, first edition, 1799
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828)

Ambroise Paré

Paré curing

Clin. Pesq. Odontol., Curitiba, v.2, n.5/6, p. 447-450, jul./dez. 2006

449

Judit Forrai

Suggested readings

1. Allen C. Curious observations on the teeth.
London: John Bale Sons & Danielsson; 1987.
p. 12-13.

2. Bakewell, Sarah: Images of Bodily
Transformation. Med Hist. 1998; 42:503-517.

3. Forrai J. Culture history of dentistry. Budapest:

Dental Press; 2005. p. 84-113.

4. Goldstein BD, Gallo MA. Paré laws: the second
law of toxicology. Toxicol Sciences 2001;
60:194-195.

5. Shah M. Premier chirurgien du roi: the life of
Ambroise Paré (1510-1590). J R Soc Med. 1992;
85:292–294.

Recebido em: 15/5/2006
Received in: 5/15/2006
Aceito em: 22/6/2006
Accepted in: 6/22/2006

450

Clin. Pesq. Odontol., Curitiba, v.2, n.5/6, p. 447-450, jul./dez. 2006