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Apart from the fake tricks of swallowing retractable swords, I always thought that swallowing swords was an acrobatic act in streets and alleys, and there was no orthodox organization.

Later, I found out that sword swallowing was organized, called the International Sword swallowing Association (SSAI). However, there are not many members, and now there are only 75. It is impossible to think about it. After all, there are not a few artists who swallow swords and scratch the digestive tract.

In a survey of 46 sword swallowing performers, 6 had their throats and esophagus perforated, and 19 had a sore throat while learning the art. Since 1880, 29 people have died from sword swallowing injuries. So, this is not a joke.

This dangerous art was born in ancient Greece and was introduced into China around the 8th century AD and has always been part of acrobatic performances. But dare you imagine that this dangerous juggling is closely related to the birth of the endoscope.

Before the advent of endoscopes, it was difficult for doctors to examine a person's esophagus. In 1807, Bozzini, a doctor in Frankfurt, proposed a solution to reflect light in the curved part of the oropharynx and examine the esophagus. However, this method still has strong limitations, up to half of the esophagus, not to the stomach.

In the 19th century, a German doctor named Adolf Cusmore (Adolf Kussmaul) kept trying to see the lesions in a patient's stomach in order to give the right treatment.

Knowing that it was not easy for light to pass through the esophagus, Cusmore paid for a professional sword devourer to see how he swallowed the sword.

He found that the sword swallow completed the dangerous operation with a simple action: by raising his head and relaxing the muscles, the angle of the oropharynx was eliminated and the sword could enter the esophagus without hindrance.

Even the solution, which seems so simple today, plagued the development of esophagoscopy for 60 years.

Inspired by the sword devourer, Cusmore changed the patient's head position and manipulation technique. Taking the sword devourer as the experimental object, he was successfully inserted into the long straight tube of 47cm, so that he could look directly into the stomach.

But the entry of light is still a problem. Cusmore can barely see a few bubbles in his stomach through a straight tube, but nothing else.

It must be mentioned that Edison, the father of the light bulb, invented a lighting system that uses platinum wire as the light source and is heated by electricity. The equipment was later made by Leiter, a famous instrument manufacturer in Vienna, and was applied to esophageal mirrors with bends.

To verify the product, Leiter visited Cusmore and learned that the straight tube could also be used to check the esophagus. After returning to Vienna, Leiter recommended the device to another famous surgeon and was recognized. As a result, the world's first clinical gastroscope was born.

In 1881, the surgeon published his experience of using a straight tube to examine the esophagus and stomach, which led to the promotion of straight tube endoscopy. It can be said that the invention of gastroscope is closely related to those who swallow swords.

Do you think it's over here? Sword swallow's contribution to gastroscopy is much more than that.

In order to confirm whether the sword devourer inserted the sword into his stomach, in 1969, a doctor examined the sword devourer. Under the X-ray, the sword devourer did swallow a 48cm sword into his stomach.

The doctor found that the method of swallowing the sword has a rule to follow: first stand upright, then tilt your head back, and then gently inhale the sword as you swallow it. The most important thing is not to be nervous, keep the entrance of the esophagus relaxed, move the jaw and hyoid forward, and let the mouth and esophagus form a smooth straight passage, so that the sword can be smoothly inserted into the esophagus.

Later, the doctor established the posture of the person who swallowed the sword, which was widely used later, the position of "first high and then low" esophagogastroscopy.

Now think about it, in fact, if you are doing a gastroscopy, to some extent, you are also a sword eater, but there is no danger.

Reference:

Https://shimo.im/docs/vVAXVjdyznC9dEqm/

This article is from the official Wechat account: bring Science Home (ID:steamforkids). By Su Chengyu.

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