Clip of Al-Zahrawi from the award-winning film '1001 Inventions and the Library of Secrets'

Al-Zahrawi provided descriptions of how to correct dislocated shoulders, set broken bones, replace missing teeth with replicas and attempt to treat cancers. In a typically sensitive gesture, he designed a knife with a concealed blade intended to calm nervous patients. He also used catgut systematically for sutures in surgery, a procedure continued by surgeons until the middle of the 20th century.