Tag: appendectomies
-
Atypical appendectomies
Jayant RadhakrishnanNathaniel KooChicago, Illinois, United States Appendectomies are routine procedures—until they are not. Three cases of auto-surgery and three other semi-pro appendectomies are worth revisiting. Evan O’Neill Kane (1861-1932) was a well-regarded surgeon who gave an exceptionally detailed account of his auto-appendectomy on February 15, 1921.1 While waiting in the operating room for the surgical…
-
Lawson Tait, father of aseptic surgery and gynecology
Robert Lawson Tait was fifth in a dynasty of pioneers who helped transform surgery from a primitive craft to a sophisticated life-saving art. They all worked for a time at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary—James Syme (the “Napoleon of Surgery”), Robert Liston (“time me, gentlemen”), James Simpson (“made childbirth painless”), and Robert Lister (“antiseptic surgery”)—and with…