LESEUR, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Trepanning is the neurosurgical practice of drilling or scraping a circular hole into the human skull in order to treat intracranial illness. The method is typically used to relieve pressure on the brain and is believed to be known as the earliest recorded surgical practice after trepanation holes were discovered on prehistoric skulls. Trepanning was historically used to treat everything from migraines to seizures, and is still used as a treatment for epidural and subdural hematomas.