History of Cautery: The Impact of Ancient Cultures

Background: Healers around the world successfully practice traditional cautery (in Arabic kaiy) since
ancient times. Traditional cautery, centuries of medical practice with unidentified exact origin has
survived till today that authenticates its significance and effectiveness in mitigating human sufferings
and diseases.
Objective: This overview aimed to describe and synthesise the literature on historical perspectives of
traditional cautery.
Methods: The relevant literature published in English prior to 2018 was electronically searched in
databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and OvidSP) using the Boolean operators and
keywords. Manual searches and references of published articles and books were also conducted. A
number of pertinent articles and abstracts (N=7490) were retained for extensive appraisal by two
independent reviewers, and finally, 82 articles were included in this paper.
Results: The historical practice of traditional cautery is documented in diverse ancient cultures but
the earliest references found in Surgical Papyrus (1550BC). The inconsistent data evidenced the
origin of cautery, definitions, instruments, anatomical sites and techniques, advancements and
research in traditional cautery since antiquity. Cautery was diminished in early 1800 century but
revived in late 1800-1900 AD in the world. Presently, traditional cautery with better procedures and
aseptic means is used by healers for treatment of a variety of diseases around the Eastern and
Western world.
Conclusion: Traditional cautery has a checkered history and is a complementary modality for
managing difficult-to-treat medical and surgical conditions. Scientifically more advanced modern types
of cautery are used in the treatment of a variety of diseases across the world. This study calls for
researching elucidating the underlying mechanisms of actions and effects of traditional cautery.
Cautery is an ancient traditional therapy practised by healers across the globe since ancient times.
Traditional cautery has checkered history, but most practitioners from diverse cultures of the world
successfully practised it in the mitigation of human sufferings and diseases. Despite technological
advancements in cauterisation techniques in modern medical sciences, traditional ancient cautery is
survived due to a variety of strong socio-cultural beliefs and progressive safe application in selected
patients not at risk of developing any complication. This historical overview calls for future studies to
provide evidence-based data concerning the sociocultural factors, clinical perspectives and basic
underlying mechanisms of action and effects of traditional cautery in different diseases.