The Incision's Strategic Position
The position of McDowell's ovariotomy in 1809 backwoods Kentucky greatly contributed to it's being remembered and honored to this day. Had Dr. McDowell and Mrs. Crawford operated later, after the usage of anesthetics became popular, or in a more modernized location, this might not be considered revolutionary. It is because of the unusualness of such a procedure being attempted and successful in that time and place that it is considered a great moment in surgical history.
“The women of Kentucky in that period of her early history were heroic and courageous, accustomed to brave the dangers of the tomahawk and scalping knife, and had more self-reliance and true heroism than is generally found in the more refined society of city life; and hence the courage of Mrs. Crawford, who, conscious that death was inevitable from the disease with which she suffered, so soon as this village doctor explained to her his plan of affording her relief, and convinced her judgement that it was feasible, immediately replied, "Doctor, I am ready for the operation; please proceed at once and perform it." All honor to Mrs. Crawford! Let her name and that of Ephraim McDowell pass down in history together as the founders of ovariotomy.” ~ Dr. Lewis A Sayre - President of the American Medical Association |
“We have ample reason for gratefully remembering the blessings that the year 1809 has bestowed upon posterity. It was just one hundred years ago that Charles Darwin was born and Abraham Lincoln and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. One hundred years ago, Lamarck's 'Philosophie Zoologique,' the forerunner of Darwin's 'Origin of Species,' first appeared, and during the same year, the first edition of Goethe's 'Faust' was published--at the time when, in Vienna, Beethoven was in the prime of his creative genius. While in Europe the cannon of Napoleon thundered and thousands lay stretched out upon the bloody battle-fields of Spain and Tyrol, of Aspern and of Wagram, a simple practitioner in the backwoods of Kentucky conceived, and carried out, a daring plan that was destined to save thousands of suffering women from invalidism and from death. Danville, Kentucky, at the present day, is but a small country town of 4,000 inhabitants, and a century ago it consisted of less than sixty houses, but it is widely known throughout Kentucky and the adjacent states as the home of Dr. Ephraim McDowell, the excellent surgeon...”
~ George Gellhorn, M. D. in "Ephraim McDowell: The Father of Abdominal Surgery" Interstate Medical Journal 1910 |
“It is important to consider these cases in their environment. The people were self-reliant, tough, and hardy. Deaths from trauma or illness were common, and relief of pain was difficult to obtain. Bacteriology was unknown but anatomy, bones, muscles, blood vessels, and organs had been well studied. A frontier doctor with a surgical reputation of necessity set fractures, did amputations, and treated lacerating or penetrating wounds -- all without anesthesia. The chief suture material was silk or linen thread or leather thongs, and needles were available to pass ligatures around vessels or through tissues... Doctor McDowell was a product of his times, using the materials at hand... ”
~ Joseph H. Pratt, M.D. Section of Gynecologic Surgery, Department of Surgery in "Historical Vignette - Ephraim McDowell: The First Five Cases of Ovariotomy, 1809 to 1818"
~ Joseph H. Pratt, M.D. Section of Gynecologic Surgery, Department of Surgery in "Historical Vignette - Ephraim McDowell: The First Five Cases of Ovariotomy, 1809 to 1818"