ANT MANDIBLES AS STAPLES IN THE ERA OF THE GREEK PATRIOT IOANNIS MAKRIYANNIS (1797-1864)

Abstract

The use of ant mandibles as surgical clips was documented by the ancient Indian physicians Susruta and Charaka as early as 1000 BC and continued in some world areas into the early 1900s. According to the memoirs of the Greek revolutionary general Ioannis Makriyannis, this technique was also applied in the battlefields of the Greek Revolution for Independence between 1821 and 1832.