Surgical infection in art
J. L. Meakins
Department of Surgery, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec.
The earliest images of medicine and surgery in Western art are from the
late Middle Ages. Although often attractive, at that time they were
illustrative and mirrored the text on how to diagnose or treat a specific
condition. These drawings in medieval manuscripts represent management of
abscesses, perianal infection and fistulas, amputation, and wound
dressings. With the Renaissance, art in all its forms flourished, and
surgeons were represented at work draining carbuncles, infected bursae, and
mastoiditis; managing ulcers, scrofula, and skin infections; and performing
amputations. Specific diagnosis can be made, such as streptococcal
infection in the discarded leg of the miraculous transplantation performed
by Saints Cosmas and Damian and in the works of Rembrandt van Rijn and
Frederic Bazille. Evocations of cytokine activity are 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 observation leads to early diagnosis
and better results in surgical infection and the septic state. Learning to
see what we look at enhances our appreciation of the world around us but,
quite specifically, makes us better clinicians.
