A 1997 letter to the British Medical Journal describes an
innovative surgical anesthetic used by Arabs in the middle ages
that involved placing a sponge soaked in opium, hashish and
scopolamine over the patient’s face. From the ingredients, the
patient was probably aware of little, let alone any pain, and it
appropriately features in the dreamy Middle Eastern classic,
Arabian Nights. Editor—Anthony John Carter’s review of sedative
plants skipped several centuries and did not mention the “Arabic
anaesthetic sponge.” Opium infusion was known to Arab clinicians
throughout the middle ages and was used commonly to relieve pain
associated with inflammation or procedures such as tooth
extraction and reduction of fractures. Poppy seeds were used in
oral perioperative analgesic syrups or paste; their boiled
solution was often used for inhalation. Anaesthesia by
inhalation was mentioned in R Burton’s Arabian Nights, and
Theodoric of Bologna (1206-98), whose name is associated with
the soporific sponge, got his informat