A brief summary of the history of head and neck surgery evolution

Abstract

Reports on oral cancer date back to ancient times, with descriptions made by Egyptians and Hindus1. The Sanskrit medical text Sushruta-sahmita, written between the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C.E., had a section dedicated to HNS, Otorhinolaryngology and Ophthalmology – Shalakya-tantra2. Although this text was more dedicated to the diagnosis of infectious diseases, it included citations for the diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancer as well as descriptions of surgical techniques2. The term cancer was coined in Ancient Greece by Hippocrates, who defined it as an imbalance of the four humors (blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm) and, therefore, it was initially treated using medication in an attempt to correct the humoral proportions1. In turn, experiments and surgical excision techniques were best addressed between the 1st and 2nd centuries C.E. by Archigenes of Apamea, a Greco-Syrian physician, who described block excisions without affecting the nerves, emphasizing the importance of performing hemostasis through cauterization1.