Skull trauma in Egyptian and Hippocratic medicine.

To compare the treatment of skull trauma in Egyptian and Hippocratic medicine, the author reviews the pertinent passages of the Smith Papyrus and of the Hippocratic Corpus. By examining the treatment of similar cases reported in the two documents, it is concluded that the Egyptian physician, with his more conservative approach, pursued a more effective and less dangerous course of action than the Hippocratic physician, who would aggressively intervene with trephination and scraping of the bone.