A GEORGIAN TREPANNING SET
Lot 63

A GEORGIAN TREPANNING SET

W PEPYS, CIRCA 1800

Closed29 September 2011

Price Realised

GBP 3,750

More Information

How to sell

A GEORGIAN TREPANNING SET
W Pepys, circa 1800
signed on the forceps W PEPYS, ivory brush, turned wooden handles, in green felt fitted case.
8½in. (22cm.) long

Specialist note

Trepanning is the neurosurgical practice of drilling or scraping a circular hole into the human skull in order to treat intracranial illness. The method is typically used to relieve pressure on the brain and is believed to be known as the earliest recorded surgical practice after trepanation holes were discovered on prehistoric skulls. Trepanning was historically used to treat everything from migraines to seizures, and is still used today as a treatment for epidural and subdural hematomas.