The Revision That Revolutionized Surgery
“When the courageous Ephraim McDowell of Kentucky performed his first removal of a large ovarian tumor in 1809, he was an oncologist, although he probably had never heard the word. Unless he was a student of Greek, he may not have known what it meant! If uttered by one of his detractors (of whom he had many), it would have sounded like a term of abuse. Little did he know that he was not only delivering a fortunate woman from her abdominal neoplasm but also planting a seed in the minds of surgeons in Europe, as well as in America. This seed was an oncological one in the correct meaning of the word, relating to the study and treatment of tumors. Ovariotomy was the first battlefield on which abdominal engagements were fought and won. When the principles of Lister's antisepsis were adopted some 60 years later, in 1870, dramatic triumphs were achieved in this type of abdominopelvic surgery.”
~John Stallworthy from "Progress in Gynecologic Oncology a Personal Retrospective View" as quoted in "Ephraim McDowell, the First Ovariotomy and the Birth of Abdominal Surgery" “Although the termination of this case was most flattering, yet I was more ready to attribute it to accident than to any skill or judgement of my own; but it emboldened me to undertake similar cases; and not until I had operated three times--all of which were successful--did I publish anything on the subject. I then thought it due to my own reputation and to suffering humanity to throw all the light which I possess upon diseased ovaria.” ~ Ephraim McDowell |
The moment Dr. McDowell made the nine inch incision, removed the twenty-two pound tumor, sanitized the intestines, and sewed them back into Mrs. Crawford, the door to abdominal surgery flung open, later to reveal a countless number of spared lives. This operation paved the way for surgical relief in ovarian diseases needing such relief -- a type of treatment that has been a great boon to woman.* Prior to McDowell's first Ovariotomy, it is impossible to tell the number of women who had this type of cancer-- though it is likely that all or most let their tumors grow until finally they passed away, their physicians too afraid and unknowledgeable to operate. After McDowell published his account of his first Ovariotomy in 1817, doctors were able to recreate his actions, and many times recreate the result. * C.V. Mosby, M.D., Sc.D. A Little Journey to the Home of Ephraim McDowell |
“McDowell's life-saving operation on Jane Todd Crawford's ovarian cyst in 1809 was far ahead of it's time, but it was soon to become common.” ~Ann Dally in Women Under the Knife: A History of Surgery |
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