Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:34:09.177Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Who has been hiding in your tonsillectomy tray? Eponymous instruments in tonsillectomy surgery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2015

L Lamprell  and
S Ahluwalia
L Lamprell*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The Townsville Hospital, Douglas, Australia
S Ahluwalia
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The Townsville Hospital, Douglas, Australia School of Medicine, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Laura Lamprell, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The Townsville Hospital, 100 Angus Smith Drive, Douglas, Queensland 4814, Australia Fax: +61 7 4433 2810 E-mail: laura.lamprell@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Surgeons regularly use eponymous instruments when performing tonsillectomies, yet the stories behind each are not commonly known.

Method and results:

This paper presents the instruments within the tonsillectomy tray, providing a brief biography of their respective surgeon namesakes. The list captures over two centuries of surgical history, and spans the disciplines of ENT, general surgery, gynaecology, anaesthetics and paediatric surgery.

Conclusion:

This is the first publication to undertake a historical study of the ensemble of surgeon inventors responsible for the instruments in the tonsillectomy tray as it is today. In furthering knowledge of our forbearer surgeon inventors, who have shaped the tonsillectomy procedure as it is safely performed today, we enrich our understanding of the history of our profession and build appreciation for the instruments employed daily. We may even be inspired to continue the tradition of evolving the craft.

Keywords

OtolaryngologyEponymsTonsillectomySurgical InstrumentsHistory of Medicine
Type
Review Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 129 , Issue 4 , April 2015 , pp. 307 - 313
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1McNeill, RA. A history of tonsillectomy: two millennia of trauma, haemorrhage and controversy. Ulster Med J 1960;29:59–63Google Scholar
2The House of Waugh. In: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB118012970752715152 [15 January 2014]Google Scholar
3Tears of laughter. In: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3623842/Tears-of-laughter.html [15 January 2014]Google Scholar
4John Birkett, F.R.C.S. Br Med J 1904;2:154–5Google Scholar
5The Four Founding Physicians. In: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/history/history5.html [14 January 2014]Google Scholar
6Penn Biographies. Kelly, Howard Atwood (1858-1943). In: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1800s/kelly_howard_atwood.html [14 January 2014]Google Scholar
7Roberts, CS. H. L. Mencken and the four doctors: Osler, Halsted, Welch, and Kelly. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent) 2010;23:377–88Google Scholar
8Kelly, Howard Atwood. In: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Atwood_Kelly [14 January 2014]Google Scholar
9Negus, VE, Fish, W, Campbell, JM. In memoriam. (Sir Victor Ewings Negus MS DSC FRCS FRCSE (HON) FRCSI (HON) (1887-1974). J R Coll Surg Edinb 1974;19:394Google Scholar
10Bateman, G. In memoriam. Sir Victor Ewings Negus. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 1974;55:201–2Google ScholarPubMed
11Negus, Victor Ewings. Lancet 1974;2:234–5Google Scholar
12In memoriam. Laryngoscope 1932;42:818–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Smith, T. Sidney Yankauer 1872-1932 – the man behind the mask. In: Padfield, A, ed. The History of Anaesthesia Society Proceedings, Vol 45, 25th Anniversary. In: http://www.histansoc.org.uk/uploads/9/5/5/2/9552670/has_vol_45.pdf [14 January 2014]Google Scholar
14Bennett, JD, Young, JR. Draffin and his rods. J Laryngol Otol 1992;106:1035–6Google Scholar
15Gwynne-Evans, E. A new tonsil dissector. Lancet 1935;226:556CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Obituary. BMJ 1990;300:326Google Scholar
17Relatives – Mollison. In: http://www.apac16.dsl.pipex.com/tree/fam/Mollison.html [13 January 2014]Google Scholar
18About JLO: History of the Journal of Laryngology and Otology. In: http://www.jlo.co.uk/about-jlo [13 January 2014]Google Scholar
19Professor Patrick, Mollison. In: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9023652/Professor-Patrick-Mollison.html [13 January 2014]Google Scholar
20Luc, Henri. In: http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/3224.html [14 January 2014]Google Scholar
21Obituary. The Times (London) 1967; 27 Jan 1967Google Scholar
22Dunn, PM. Sir Denis Browne (1892-1967) and congenital deformities of mechanical origin. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2005;90:F88–91CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23Browne, Sir Denis John Wolko (1892–1967). In: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/browne-sir-denis-john-wolko-9603 [14 January 2014]Google Scholar
24Wilkinson, DJ. Boyle, Henry Edmund Gaskin (1875-1941). In: http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/56007 [14 January 2014]Google Scholar
25Boyle, Henry Edmund Gaskin. In: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Edmund_Gaskin_Boycle [14 January 2014]Google Scholar