Legends Of Surgeryさんのイラストまとめ

In honour of Father’s Day, here is an original sketch and modern recreation of a beautifully intricate surgical scalpel used by one of the fathers of surgery, the French barber-surgeon Ambroise Paré (1510-1590).

Dupuytren’s disease has been called ‘the curse of the MacCrimmons’ because of a high incidence among this clan from the Isle of Skye. Known for their talents as bagpipers, the bent pinkie in Dupuytren’s made playing difficult, hence the curse!

One of my favourite anatomical terms is for the connection between the 3rd and 4th ventricles of the brain: the aqueduct of Sylvius. Named for the ancient way of moving water made famous by the Romans, and the 17th century Dutch physician Franciscus Sylvius.

TIL: Plantar fibromatosis (thickening of connective tissue of the feet) is also called Ledderhose disease. Not because of the traditional dress of Oktoberfest (that’s lederhosen) but rather after the German surgeon Georg Ledderhose, who described the condition in 1894.

TIL: the name duodenum comes from the Medieval Latin ‘duodenum digitorium’ meaning ‘space of 12 digits’. This originated from the Greek physician Herophilus (353-280 BCE) who described its length as about the breadth of twelve fingers!

Finally, he also invented the Pirogov amputation in 1854. This was a technique of foot amputation in which the heel is preserved and used as a base. The patient is able to bear full weight on the limb with minimal loss of leg length.

English obstetrician James Blundell (1790-1878) performed the first successful transfusion of human blood in 1825, drawing blood from the husband with a syringe and transfusing it into his wife, to treat post-partum hemorrhage! To avoid clotting, he invented the ‘Gravitator’.

The name ‘linitis plastica’ was first used to describe a thickened, rigid stomach in 1854 by English physician William Brinton. Linitis (inflamed fibrous tissue) and plastica (inelastic). Also called ‘leather bottle’ stomach, we now know this is from diffuse gastric cancer.

English surgeon Sir William Bowman (1816-1892) identified numerous microscopic structures, invented lacrimal probes, joined the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, and founded the Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom (now the Royal College of Ophthalmologists).

The 1937 painting ‘surgery’ was done by Irish-born South African artist Dorothy Kay. Depicting a cholecystectomy, the focus is on the anesthesiologist and his equipment. The artist added herself to the scene. She is the ‘scrub sister’ on the right.