SANGRADORES Y FLEBÓTOMOS EN CHILE: LA MEDICINA MODERNA Y EL ARTE DE SANGRAR, SIGLO XIX

Medicine faced during the 19th century several changes that shaped Chilean therapeutic cultures and influenced the way medicine intertwined with society. Bleeding, a key tool in the Hippocratic and Galenic theory, continued in practice during this period, using the figure of the phlebotomist to be part of the new medical scenario. This article presents phlebotomy in this time of change, and proposes that its dissolution, in the early years of the 20th century was directly related with the rejection of bloodletting as a therapeutic tool and its replacement with new alternatives. Under this context, the contribution of phlebotomists in the development of the new sanitary professions that emerge during the 20th century, was forgotten, been related only with colonial bleeders.