Trepanation During the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

In the middle of the nineteenth century there was a rejection and nearly abandonment of trepanation due to the very high postoperative mortality. The introduction of asepsis and antisepsis techniques allows the resurgence of trepanation. The discovery of cortical cerebral localisations means that trephination with trephine, even with the techniques of expanding the initial cranial opening, was inadequate and trepanation is abandoned in favour of the craniotomy.