Brain surgery during ancient times

After long period of research on Tibetan Tripitaka, a Buddhism text, researchers found out that brain surgery was practiced even during ancient times.

The text contained information that originally had been passed down orally until being written down in the third century B.C. It was then translated into the Tibetan language from Sanskrit.

“The 2,900-year-old Tibetan Tripitaka states clearly why and how brain surgery was carried out,” said Karma Trinley, an associate professor from the Tibetan language and literature department of Tibet University to Xinhua.

According to the professor, the Tripitaka described how a young doctor observed brain surgery being performed by a veteran surgeon. The younger of the two, named “Tsogyel,” only had the right to observe the surgery with patient’s permission. They are to be a skilled surgeon in the future.

The detailed text described how the surgeon tried to operate the patient’s brain with a pair of tweezers.

Tripitaka mentioned that the patient had a severe pain and had to bang his head with hard objects to ease the headache.

Before the findings scholars disputed the meaning of ancient brain surgery, as some considered it a religious ritual or a therapy used by witches and wizards.

Kang Yoon-seung (koreacolin@gmail.com)
Intern reporter
Edited by Rob York