Abstract

NASA – SANDHAN: A CLASSICAL REVIEW

Dr. Urvashi* and Dr. Ajay Kumar Gupta

ABSTRACT

Ayurveda is attributed to lord Dhanvantari, the physician of Gods in Hindu mythology, who receive it from lord Brahma. Its earliest concepts were set out in the portion of the Vedas known as Atharvaveda. Vedas are rich in magical practices for the treatment of diseases and in charms for the expulsion of the evils i.e. traditionally supposed to cause diseases. From ancient Indian surgery, it has been observed that various operations were successfully performed in those days also. Acharya Sushruta was the first and famous surgeon of ancient science. There are so many examples and descriptions of surgery available in Ayurvedic Samhita. Contribution of ancient Indian surgery in the field of plastic operation can’t be under-estimated. Sandhan karma, described by Acharya Sushruta, is a very old science which can be compared with the plastic surgery or reconstructive surgery in recent times. Indian surgery has great potentialities for research. It is however very difficult to say when the first reconstructive operation on mankind was performed. Suhsruta Samhita, which describes the ancient tradition of surgery in India, contains detailed descriptions of teachings and practise of the great ancient surgeon Acharya Sushruta. Today Sandhan Karma is at its advanced position in the form of plastic and reconstructive surgery. But originally it was initiated with the Rhinoplasty operation performed by Acharya Sushruta, called as Nasa Sandhan. Besides this, Acharya Sushruta has also performed Karna Sandhan (Lobuloplasty) and Oshtha Sandhan (Cheiloplasty).

Keywords: Sandhana karma, Plastic surgery, Reconstructive surgery, Nasasandhan, Oshtha Sandhan.