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Trepanning Kit

Trepanning Kit
ca. 1850
History of Medicine Collection

Dating back to prehistoric times, trepanning is the surgical procedure of drilling or cutting a hole into the skull in order to relieve pressure on the brain tissue. The trephine drill, which was first developed in classical Greece, is a saw that cuts a circular hole in the skull. With the brain long being recognized as the seat of the mind and personality, trepanning was often believed to be an effective treatment for seizures and mental illness, and this belief persisted well into modern times.