The Spatula Mundani was a surgical device invented in the 17th century by the London surgeon James Woodall to treat extreme cases of severe constipation where purgatives had failed. Woodall believed that the cause of this malady was from scurvy, but speculation is that many of the cases were from the abuse of laudanum, a tincture of opium in alcohol commonly used at the time as a painkiller; opioid drugs are known to cause constipation by reducing gut motility.
See also
- Instruments used in general surgery
- Fecal impaction