Historical Vignette of Infamous Gunshot Injury to Spine: "An Ailment not to be Treated"?

Maiti, Tanmoy Kumar; Konar, Subhas; Bir, Shyamal Chandra; Bollam, Papireddy; Nanda, Anil · World Neurosurg · 2015

review · Level V

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Abstract

The increasing prevalence and gloomy socioeconomic consequence of spine injury remain a concern in modern medicine. In this article, we highlight the infamous gunshot spinal injuries of a few eminent personalities across multiple centuries and their sociopolitical impact in context with the evolution of modern medicine. The role of available medicine in these victims was not more than a mere watcher, thus substantiating an infamous quote from ancient literature that describes spine injury as "an ailment not to be treated."

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