Gasparis Tagliacozzi
was professor of surgery and anatomy at the University of Bologna in
the late sixteenth century. In 1597 he published his most famous work
De Curtorum Chirurgia, a guide for surgeons on reconstructive surgery
for noses and ears. Tagliacozzi was developing techniques used by
earlier Italian surgeons, the origins of which can be traced back to
Arabic records of the fourth-century work of Sushruta Samhita in
India.
Tagliacozzi's book is
the first published work on reconstructive surgery and includes
twenty-two plates providing a step-by-step guide to the surgical
technique of rhinoplasty. These include detailed drawings of the
instruments used, as well as drawings of the patient at various
stages of the procedure.
Several plates show a
patient wearing a vest designed by Tagliacozzi. The patients arm has
been immobilised and a piece of skin from the arm has been grafted
onto the patient's nose. The arm had to remain in this position for
two or three weeks while the until the graft adhered to the nose, and
the whole process could take several months to complete.
The book went through
several editions at the end of the sixteenth Century and appears to
have been influential at the time. However it was also controversial
and not endorsed by the Church authorities who considered it to be an
interference with the works of God.