Trepanation, also known as trephinning or trepanning, is a form of surgery where a hole is drilled or scraped into the skull, leaving the membrane around the brain intact. It addresses health problems that relate to abnormal intracranial pressure.
However, there are advocates who suggest trepanation even for healthy people, claiming that after an operation capillaries in the brain should operate on a higher metabolism resulting in a higher state of consciousness. Some claim spiritual benefits.
Trepanation has been carried out for both medical reasons and mystical practices for a long time: Evidence of trepanation has been found in pre-historic human remains from Neolithic times onwards, per cave paintings indicating that people believed the practice would cure epileptic seizures and mental disorders. Furthermore, Hippocrates gave specific directions on the procedure from its evolution through the Greek age.
Trepanation is generally not practiced by doctors without a medical indication. Illegal in the United States and Europe due to the risk of blood clots, brain injuries and infections, trepanation procedures can lead to meningitis or death.
See also
Trephinning in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica
External links
Skeptic's Dictionary entry about Trepanation (http://skepdic.com/trepanation.html)
International Trepanation Advocacy Group (http://www.trepan.com/home.html)
Diary of a trepannee, circa 2000 (http://www.bmezine.com/news/people/A10101/trepan/)
Trepannation involves drilling a hole in the skull with a flint knife to release trapped spirits from inside the head.
Trepannation has been practised in many cultures and remained popular up to the Middle Ages.
The interesting thing about trepannation is that it came into being around the same time as human beings left nature completely to live in a man-made environment - both are equal historical signposts of a separation from nature as well as psychoemotional illhealth.
In terms of current understanding, there are no benefits to be gained from trepannation save for evacuating blood clots from the surface of the brain.
It is unlikely that this was the reason for the operation being performed in prehistory, since nearly all the subjects would have died of infections, and forensic examination reveals that although most subjects died at the time this was done, a fair proportion survived: some even underwent trepannation a second time.
Prehistoric trepannation probably did not breach the coverings of the brain, but merely penetrated the skull.
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