He broke tradition with
Galen by claiming that
pus formation was bad for wounds and for the patient. He was a professor at the
University of Bologna. In 1275 he wrote Chirurgia which promoted the use of a
surgical knife over
cauterizing. He also was the author of Summa conservationis et curationis on
hygiene and
therapy.
Lanfranc of Milan was a pupil who brought William's methods into France. William gave lectures on the importance of regular
bathing for
infants, and special care for the hygiene of
pregnant women.
References
^Roger Kenneth French Canonical Medicine: Gentile Da Foligno and Scholasticism 2001 - Page 43 "Where 'William' is quoted on surgery (Canon III, 69r), it seems likely that Guglielmo da Saliceto is intended. Sometimes Gentile specifies a 'William the Lombard', for example Canon III, 88r. As Brescia is in Lombardy, William the Lombard is ..."
^Plinio Prioreschi A History of Medicine: Medieval Medicine 1996 - Page 453 "Guglielmo da Saliceto"
The Surgery of William of Saliceto, English translation by Leonard D. Rosenman
ISBN1-4010-8572-5.