Cranioplasty Essay

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Cranioplasty is the surgical correction of skull defects. It involves using suitable materials to repair cranial defects to make the skull whole following a head injury. According to Plato (429-347 BC) “The part can never be well until the whole is well” (Jowett, 1911). The following paper examines the truth of this statement with respect to outcomes following a cranioplasty. The majority of head injuries requiring a cranioplasty result from trauma inflicted by accidents and violence (Honeybul & Ho, 2011). It is one of the oldest surgical procedures, dating back to 7000 BC: gold and silver shaped discs corresponding to cranial defects were found in the ancient Incan burial grounds (Aydin, Kucukyuruk, Abuzayed, Aydin & Sanus, 2011). The first written evidence for cranioplasty was provided in the 16th century by the physician Fallopius: he too advocated the use of precious metals to repair the skull (Delashaw & Persing, 1996). It was not until the 17th century that other materials were empirically recorded. In 1668 a Dutch physician, van Meekren, performed the first xenograft which uses tissue from another species. This was a controversial operation as van Meekren used bone from a dog to repair a cranial defect (Dujoveny, Aviles, Agner, Fernandez & Charbel, 1996). Although the operation was successful, the Catholic Church ordered the removal of the implant, considering it to be immoral to use a canine bone to repair a human skull (Grant & Norcross, 1939). During the late 19th century evidence shows xenografts were widely used and reported minimal infection (Grantham & Landis, 1948). In the early 20th century, they were disused and autografts became the popular choice (Gladstone, McDermott & Cooke, 1995). This type of graft uses bone tissue from different donor sites of the patient, typically from the pelvis, tibia or ribs (Aydin et al. 2011). The

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