Evolution of Neurosurgery in the Arab World and Moroccan contribution

Background: Both the contribution of the Arab World in the history of neurosurgery (NS) and its recent development are not known to neurosurgeons worldwide.
Objective and methodology: The aim is to give the reader an overview of the history of NS in the Arab World, its development over the last decades and the Moroccan contribution to this development.
Results: The first scientific roots for the practice of NS were born in the Middle East. Trephination, has been practiced for thousands of years BC, by Assyrians, Babylonians and Pharaohs’ physicians. The oldest medical manuscripts are the Cuneiform Medical Tablets found in Mesopotamia, and Edwin Smith’s Surgical Papyrus in Egypt. These first steps would become confirmed during the Middle Ages through the influence of Arab and Islamic civilization. Modern NS was introduced into the Arab World by general surgeons of the colonial medical diaspora during the first half of the last century. Thanks to the effort of the pioneers, the number of neurosurgeons would increase over a limited period of time to reach an honorable number and ratio respectively, 3313 and 1: 128530). Today, all Arab neurosurgeons have a national society of neurosurgery and are gathered in PANS who publish an official journal, the PAJNS. The Moroccan Society of NS have made a significant contribution in the recent evolution of Arab NS and its international recognition when organizing the first World Congress of Neurosurgery (Marrakech, 2005) and initiating the first regional training program for young neurosurgeons in 2002.