Chauliac's seminal work on surgery, Chirurgia magna, was finished in 1363 in Avignon. In seven volumes, the treatise covers anatomy, bloodletting, cauterization, drugs, anesthetics, wounds, fractures, ulcers, special diseases, and antidotes. Among de Chaulic's treatments he described the use of bandages and he also believed pus from an infection was beneficial to the healing process. He describes surgical techniques such as intubation, tracheotomy, and suturing.
Chauliac quoted frequently from other medical works, written by contemporaries or those written by earlier physicians and anatomists, as he sought to describe the history of medicine. He claimed that surgery began with Hippocrates and Galen, and was developed in the Arab world by Haly Abbas, Albucasis, and Al-Razi. Through his position as papal physician, Chauliac had access to Galen's texts, recently translated by Niccolò da Reggio from original Greek versions, which were more accurate than the Latin translations.
Chirurgia magna was greatly influenced by Islamic scientists, and de Chauliac references Galen and Avicenna often in the work. The work became popular and was translated into English, French, Dutch, Italian, and Provençal. It was reworked multiple times, including to remove references to Islamic scientists, to the point that the work was no longer recognizable as Chauliac's own.
De Chauliac recognized the importance of Montpellier with respect to surgical study.
Read more about this topic: Guy De Chauliac, Works