The practice of opening a vein as a therapeutic measure, also called venesection, bloodletting, or “bleeding.” A historically standard treatment for a vast array of ailments and considered the chief remedy for some, phlebotomy did not fall entirely out of fashion until the late 19th century. A symposium conducted by the Philadelphia County Medical Society in 1860, discussed reasons for the rapid decline of bloodletting. Physicians noted the change in types of disease and in the constitution of patients, the proliferation of propaganda by homeopaths and other vitalistic thinkers, and empirical substitution of other remedies for bloodletting as among the causes of its decline. The abandonment of bloodletting as a remedial agent entailed a shift in therapeutical thinking, from the idea that disease could be forced out of the body to the realization that gradually “building up” and conserving strength were essential for recovery from illness.
The process of extracting blood from the body by making an incision in a vein, commonly employed as a therapeutic measure in the treatment of diseases.
The procedure of making an incision in a vein to draw blood is also known as venesection.