Ossafreelance Case Study - Osteology report, Worcester Cathedral

Worcester city became a focal point in medical research when Sir Charles Hastings founded the Provincial Medical and Surgical Society (now known as the British Medical Association). Still, during this period, the Worcester General Infirmary only had 60 beds for patients who could not be attended to at home and treatment had to be paid for. One individual exhibited evidence of one common surgical procedure carried out - trephination. This involved cutting a hole in the skull to relieve intracranial pressure. Unfortunately, the lack of healing around the cut indicates that the patient did not survive.

4 Victorian Worcester: Life in St. Andrew's - Surgery
	Worcester city became a focal point in medical research when Sir Charles Hastings founded the Provincial Medical and Surgical Society (now known as the British Medical Association). Still, during this period, the Worcester General Infirmary only had 60 beds for patients who could not be attended to at home and treatment had to be paid for. One individual exhibited evidence of one common surgical procedure carried out - trephination. This involved cutting a hole in the skull to relieve intracranial pressure. Unfortunately, the lack of healing around the cut indicates that the patient did not survive.
	Since the trephination did not save this individual's life, it appears that the surgeon(s) carried out a cranial autopsy as part of a post-mortem investigatin in order to establish the cause of death. This procedure is also likely to have been used for educational purposes and have been observed by students. Evidence from the skull indicates that several incisions were made around the hairline to remove the scalp carefully and then carefully sawing through the skull to remove the top. This would allow the brain to be removed and observed. The care taken in this procedure suggests that the body was to be prepared for a funeral after the autopsy had been carried out.