Color Illustrations and Neurosurgical Techniques of Şerefeddin Sabuncuoğlu in the 15th Century

Serefeddin Sabuncuoğlu (AD 1385-1468?) is the author of Cerrahiyyetü'l-Haniyye (Imperial Surgery), which was written in Turkish in 1465. It was the first illustrated textbook of surgery in the Turkish medical literature, containing color illustrations of surgical procedures, incisions, and instruments. Sabuncuoğlu, a pioneer of surgery, developed numerous original techniques in a variety of surgical specialties. He described surgical management of spinal trauma, epilepsy, migraine, facial palsy, hemiplegia, low back pain, cranial fracture, and hydrocephalus. The aim of this study is to describe his contributions to neurosurgery.