Abstract
Objective : This article shows that while Seishu Hanaoka(華岡靑洲) is known to have developed an effective anesthetic formula composed of traditional herbs and performed the world first partial mastectomy under a general anesthesia in 1804, anesthetic formulas very similar to those developed by him were widely recorded and deemed used in Japan and Northeast Asia before his invention. The origin of the formulas will be tracked down to compare with the several formulas broadly administered in the region. Methods : Historical literature analysis was adopted to achieve the objective. 1. Mayaku-ku (麻藥考): this book is the main medical classic by Nakagawa Syutei(中川修亭) that introduces Seishu Hanaoka, his anesthetic formulas and mastectomy. 2. Northeast medical classics: Seuideukhyobang (世醫得效方) in 1337, Uibangryuchui (醫方類聚), Uihui(宜彙) and so on. Result : Herbs such as aconitum and datura were applied as a anesthetic agent early on before the Chinese Yuan dynasty. In Korea as well, some old medical books documented such use of those herbs and relevant formulas. Conclusion : Formulas that counted as invented and employed by Seishu Hanaoka as anesthetics, in fact, had been widely known and used in the region before his era. We should pay due attention to his creativity that combined a western surgical intervention and traditional anesthetic agents and successfully performed a newly introduced surgical practice in Japan. The point is that Hanaoka took note of anesthetic herbs or formulas traditionally inherited in North-east Asian medicine and successfully applied them to the surgical procedures for breast cancer, or mastectomy and mammotomy. This history alerts us to neglected or forgotten potentials of traditional medicine in anesthetic treatment and more.
