Medicine's Bizarre History
@FaisalGhani_
Followers
16,576
Following
14
Media
5,894
Statuses
11,763
The bizarre development of the prevention and treatment of disease from prehistoric and ancient times to the 21st century.
Karachi, Pakistan
Joined May 2019
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Madison Square Garden
• 1281688 Tweets
Puerto Rico
• 408200 Tweets
Tony
• 190628 Tweets
Nazis
• 178709 Tweets
Boulos
• 151537 Tweets
Commanders
• 141138 Tweets
Bears
• 130436 Tweets
Latinos
• 121875 Tweets
Bad Bunny
• 120093 Tweets
Santiago
• 110866 Tweets
Dr. Phil
• 91165 Tweets
Hail Mary
• 91094 Tweets
Lawson
• 83150 Tweets
Melania
• 75645 Tweets
Jayden Daniels
• 73833 Tweets
Desbordes
• 60035 Tweets
#HalloweenHavoc
• 46331 Tweets
Caleb
• 44327 Tweets
Puente Alto
• 43244 Tweets
Oprah
• 42421 Tweets
Cowboys
• 38202 Tweets
Viña
• 36847 Tweets
49ers
• 36173 Tweets
Mexicans
• 28379 Tweets
Steph
• 27592 Tweets
Riestra
• 25909 Tweets
Curry
• 24323 Tweets
Tyrique Stevenson
• 21359 Tweets
George Lopez
• 14476 Tweets
Las Condes
• 14357 Tweets
Ñuñoa
• 14004 Tweets
Purdy
• 10470 Tweets
Kittle
• 10462 Tweets
#SusanaGimenez
• 10412 Tweets
ROVSING’S SIGN
Deep palpation of the left iliac fossa causing pain in the right iliac fossa, is helpful in supporting a clinical diagnosis of appendicitis. It is named after Neils Thorkild Rovsing, 1862–1937, Professor of Surgery, Copenhagen, Denmark.
12
878
5K
WHY WARD ROUNDS ARE CALLED ‘ROUNDS’?
Ward rounds were the brainchild of Sir William Osler, the legendary first physician-in-chief, Johns Hopkins’ Hospital, who believed that the patient was the source of medical knowledge.
30
447
2K
This is how operation theatres looked in the 18th and 19th centuries. No wonder they were called ‘theatres’.
12
268
1K
THE PATIENT WHO DEVISED HIS OWN SURGERY!
The patient Dr. Michael DeBakey (seated), himself benefited from heart surgery he had devised. In 2005, DeBakey suffered from aortic dissection. Years prior, he had pioneered surgical treatment to treat this condition.
15
263
1K
RULE OF THUMB!
To excise a circular skin lesion, an elliptical incision is made. The rule of thumb is that ‘an elliptical incision must be at least three times as long as it is wide’ for the wound to heal without tension.
6
246
1K
SELF-INFLICTED C-SECTION & THE MEXICAN WOMAN!
In March 2000, Inés Ramírez Pérez, a Mexican woman from Oaxaca, performed a Caesarean section on herself. Despite having no medical training, the operation was successful and both she and her baby survived.
50
311
1K
American surgeon, William Wayne Babcock (1876–1963), is still remembered in all surgical ORs, for the wonderful instrument he so painstakingly invented!
21
226
1K
‘I believe that in every case the seat of greatest pain “determined by the pressure of one finger” has been very exactly between1 1/2 & 2 inches from the anterior spinous process of ilium on straight line from that process to the umbilicus.’
-Charles McBurney (1854–1913) -1889
7
212
1K
Amidst a tangle of wires, Dr. Zbigniew Religa anxiously watches a screen to see how his patient responds after a heart transplant. In the lower right corner, you can see one of his colleagues who helped him with the surgery fallen asleep. The surgery lasted for 23 hours.
21
206
1K
WHY GREEN/BLUE IN THEATRE?
In 1914, surgeon Harry Sherman, recommended green, a color “less wearisome to the eyes and [one that] minimized reflection.” He further suggested that green “keeps the surgeon’s eye acute to red and pink.”
9
245
1K
Surgery is not an art; it is a personality disorder.
17
289
1K
HESSELBACH TRIANGLE
A region of the lower, anterior abdominal wall, or groin, that was first described by Franz Kaspar Hesselbach (1759-1816), a German surgeon and anatomist, in 1806.
1
186
1K
MURPHY’S SIGN
Patient experiences a ‘catch in breath’ on deep inspiration, with the physicians thumb placed lightly at the angle between lateral border of rectus muscle and tip of 9th costal cartilage.
18
183
1K
MURPHY’S SIGN
‘Catch in the breath on deep inspiration’ when thumb is lightly placed on the right subcostal region. This sign, indicative of acute cholecystitis is named after Swiss Surgeon, Ludwig Georg Courvoisier (1843–1918), who made his observation in 1890.
10
223
1K
THE TRIANGLE
Calot’s triangle, described by French anatomist, Jean François Calot (1861–1944), is the space bordered by the cystic duct inferiorly, the common hepatic duct medially and the liver superiorly.
4
180
1K
ANAESTHESIA & ARAB SURGEON
Artistic impression of Arabia anesthetic sponge, in which the surgeon operates and the tabbaee keeps the sedoanalgesic soaked anesthetic sponge over the nostril and squeezes the liquid which is absorbed by the mucous membrane of nose and mouth.
5
214
984
THE NURSE WITH AN OBSERVANT EYE!
Sister Mary Joseph, Nursing Superintendent, St Mary’s Hospital, USA, observed that patients with terminal cancer sometimes developed a red papular lesion in the umbilicus. She and William Mayo published this observation in 1928.
13
226
967
THE GREAT INDIAN ANAESTHESIOLOGIST … LOVED❤️BY ANAESTHESIOLOGISTS WORLD OVER🌍🌎!
Seshagiri Rao Mallampati (b. 1941), Indian anesthesiologist, IS best known for proposing the eponymous MALLAMPATI SCORE in 1985, a non-invasive method to assess the ease of endotracheal intubation
8
182
924
SURGEON’S RULE OF THUMB FOR ELLIPTICAL INCISION
An elliptical incision must be at least three times as long as it is wide for the wound to heal without tension.
3
133
887
SURGERY WITH 300% MORTALITY … 1/3
Lord Liston is the ONLY SURGEON in history to have caused deaths of three persons in a single operation.
28
149
870
PRINGLE’S MANOEUVRE
The Pringle manoeuvre was developed by Australian born surgeon, James Hogarth Pringle (1863-1941 i in the early 1900s in order to attempt to control bleeding during severe liver traumatic injuries.
2
160
810
HARTMANN’S PROCEDURE!
Henri Albert Hartmann (1860–1952), Chief of Surgery, Hôtel Dieu, Paris, France. He is best known for Hartmann's operation, a two-stage colectomy he devised for colon cancer and diverticulitis.
1
147
783
THE MAN WHO DARED LIGATE THE AORTA!
It was not until 1925, that Rudolph Matas (1860–1957) of New Orleans was able to report the first successful ligation of the abdominal aorta in a patient with aortic aneurysm
8
104
759
THE SURGEON WHO REMOVED HIS OWN APPENDIX!
Leonid Ivanovich Rogozov (1934-2000) was a Soviet general practitioner. He performed his own appendectomy while on the 6th Soviet Antarctic Expedition, 1960–1961.
17
141
758
FOURNIER GANGRENE
Fournier gangrene is a type of necrotizing fasciitis or gangrene affecting the external genitalia, perineum or abdominal wall. It was first described by Baurienne in 1764 and is named after a French venereologist, Jean Alfred Fournier.
6
124
693
BATTLE’S SIGN
Battle's sign consists of bruising over the mastoid process as a result of extravasation of blood along the path of the posterior auricular artery due to fracture of middle cranial fossa.
It is named after English surgeon, William Henry Battle (1855-1936).
2
145
665
LONGEST DURATION FOR A HERNIA
Frank Lamb, a slave in North Carolina carried hernia for 69 years. He suffered from left inguinal hernia from the age of 9 years. He was forced to hard, daily labor.
25
126
644
AL-ZAHRAWI -FATHER OF SURGERY
Al-Zahrawi, also known as Abulcasis, was an Arabic scholar who lived during the 10th and 11th centuries. He is credited as the father of surgery as he was responsible for the creation of many new surgical tools and techniques.
13
130
561
TRENDELENBURG POSITION -A BLISS FOR THE GYANECOLOGISTS!
Friedrich Trendelenburg (1844–1924), Professor of Surgery described this position in 1885. It is commonly used during gynaecological surgeries, with the patient put into incline so that her head is lower than his feet.
10
130
635
FIRST SURGEON TO RECEIVE NOBEL PRIZE!
Emil Theodor Kocher (1841-1917) -orthopaedic surgeon and the first surgeon Nobel Prize winner.
4
126
635
Antonio Maria Valsalva (1666–1723), Italian physician & anatomist.
His name is associated with Valsalva manoeuvre, performed by a forceful attempt of exhalation against a closed airway, usually done by closing one's mouth and pinching one's nose shut while expelling air out.
5
128
630
SPIGELIAN HERNIA
Adriaan van den Spiegel (1578 – 7 April 1625), was an anatomist at the University of Padua during the 17th century. Spiegel was the first to describe this rare hernia in 1627, which was later named after him.
5
110
611
SURGEONS … SO FOND OF TRIANGLES!
German surgeon & anatomist, Franz Kaspar Hesselbach (1759–1816).
He was the first to describe the inguinal triangle (Hesselbach's triangle). The triangle is an area of weakness in the abdominal wall, through which a hernia can protrude.
5
127
598
LICHTENSTEIN REPAIR -THE MOSED LOVED ❤️ HERNIA REPAIR WORLD OVER!
It was introduced by the American surgeon, Irving Lichtenstein (1920–2000).
4
98
596
SURGEONS -KNOW YOUR LINES!
Langer's lines are topological lines parallel to the natural orientation of collagen fibres in dermis, and generally perpendicular to the underlying muscle fibres. Knowing the direction of these lines is important for making appropriate incisions.
2
108
589
EPSTEIN BARR VIRUS
Michael Anthony Epstein, (b. 1921), and Yvonne Barr, (1931–2016). Epstein and Barr discovered this virus in 1964, which was named after them.
2
100
584
Sketches detailing the correct use of a Scalpel by anonymous artist. Date unknown
3
143
574
RICHTER’S HERNIA
Hernia where only part of the bowel wall enters the hernial sac. It is named after German surgeon, August Gottlieb Richter (1742–1812).
4
99
572
WHEN IN DOUBT, DRAIN!
In 1887, Lawson Tait (1845-1899) suggested ‘when in doubt drain!’.
2
84
558
ORIGIN OF THE WORD ‘HYSTERECTOMY’
Hysteria was believed to be a mental disorder attributable to women. Doctors at the time ‘cured’ the disease by removing the source, which was, at the time, believed to be the uterus (Hyster: womb).
9
117
535
WHY SURGEONS IN UK CALLED MR/MISS/MRS & NOT DOCTORS? 1/2
Until 19th century, young surgeons served as an apprentice to a surgeon, before taking examination, which was conducted by the Surgeons' Company and after 1800 by The Royal College of Surgeons …
5
138
536
WHY WARD ROUNDS ARE CALLED ‘ROUNDS’?
In Hopkins' original hospital, the surgical ward was octagonal, and when Sir William Osler (1849-1919) toured patients’ bedsides with a team of physicians, the ritual was called "rounds."
5
138
531
HISTORY OF SURGICAL SCRUBS
Originally known as “surgical greens” because of their color, this form of attire has now colloquially been termed “scrubs” because of the simple notion that they are worn in a “scrubbed” environment.
5
99
498
THE HUMBLE FOLEY’S CATHETER!
… was designed by American
#urologist
, Frederic Eugene Basil Foley (1891–1965) in 1929. He recommended the newly designed device used to achieve hemostasis after cystoscopic
#prostatectomy
.
3
106
500
HIPPOCRATIC FACIES
The ill looking face of patients suffering from diffuse peritonitis secondary to hollow viscus rupture. It is named after Greek physician and surgeon Hippocrates of Kos (460 BCE-375 BCE), and by common consent ‘the father of medicine’.
4
67
485
THE MAD PHYSICIAN!
Hungarian doctor, Ignaz Semmelweis, in 1847,was 1st to notice that medical students fresh from the dissecting room were causing excess maternal death compared to midwives.
3
98
479
POST-HAEMORRHOIDECTOMY SITZ BATH -WHAT DOES ‘SITZ’ MEAN?
The term “sitz bath” comes from the German word for “seat.” A sitz bath normally comes as a plastic kit that can be fitted to a standard toilet and allows the patient to sit in.
6
105
463
CORRECT POSTURE FOR DEFAECATION
(From Bailey & Love’s Short Practice of Surgery, 28 ed. published 2023, by CRC Press)
2
126
455
Two things surgeons fear the most are God and peritonitis.
- Henri Mondor (1885 - 1962)
7
88
417
BELL’S PALSY!
Sir Charles Bell (1774-1842) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for ddescribing Bell's palsy.
3
93
415
HISTORY TAKING -SURGEONS … YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT!
“Listen to the patient; he is giving you the diagnosis”
-Sir William Osler (1849–1919), Canadian Physician, who initiated bedside clinical training for medical students at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore.
2
102
412
TWO MEN TO WHOM WE REMAIN INDEBTED TO TILL ETERNITY!
Henry Hamilton Bailey 1894–1961
Robert J. McNeill Love 1891–1974
Skilled surgeons, inspirational teachers, dedicated authors
& Authors of “Bailey & Love’s Short Practice of Surgery”
7
82
402
A physician is someone who knows everything and does nothing.
A surgeon is someone who does everything and knows nothing.
A psychiatrist is someone who knows nothing and does nothing.
A pathologist is someone who knows everything and does everything too late!
6
86
394
LANCET OR SCALPEL: IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?
A scalpel is an extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery or anatomical dissection. While scalpels have one-sided sharp disposable blades, double-edged scalpels are referred to as "lancets" (extreme right, below).
2
80
382
On Feb 15, 1921, Evan O'Neill Kane (1861-1932) performed his own appendectomy to prove efficacy of local anaesthesia. He was the 1st surgeon to have done so. In 1932, he performed an even more risky self-operation of repairing his inguinal hernia at the age of 70.
4
73
387
TRANSFUSION OF MILK!
19th century physicians, believing that milk was the perfect substitute for blood, and that the fatty/oily qualities would become white blood cells, started the bizarre practice of milk transfusions in their patients.
11
105
376
CULLEN’S SIGN
– discoloration around umbilicus – may indicate severe acute pancreatitis, ruptured ectopic pregnancy or trauma to the liver. It is named after Thomas Stephen Cullen, 1868–1953, Professor of Gynecology, who described the sign in ruptured ectopic pregnancy in 1916.
2
89
365
Sir David Drummond, 1852–1932, pathologist and physician. Named after him is the marginal artery of Drummond, an anastomoses between peripheral branches of the SMA and IMA. It usually prevents critical ischaemia of the sigmoid and descending colon.
2
96
370
Edoardo Bassini (1844–1924), Professor of Surgery, Padua, Italy. In 1884 he introduced a surgical procedure that allowed for reconstruction of the inguinal canal and restoration of the patient's anatomy following removal of the hernial sac.
7
60
351
WHEN CANT PULL, GO FOR HARTMANN’S OPERATION!
French surgeon, Henri Albert Charles Antoine Hartmann (1860–1952), best known for Hartmann's operation, a two-stage colectomy he devised for colon cancer and diverticulitis.
2
78
351
‘SUN SHOULD NOT NOT RISE & FALL ON APPENDICITIS”
The old saying that caused generations of young surgeons spend sleepless nights performing appendicectomies world over no longer stands true!
8
54
346
ARE GALLBLADDERS NECESSARY?
Carl Johann Langenbuch (1846–1901), noted that elephants and horses do not possess this organ (nor do rats or pigeons!), and therefore concluded that man, too, could do without it!
5
69
346
THE MAN & HIS FORCEPS WE ALL SO L❤️VE!
American surgeon William Wayne Babcock (1876–1963) and the forceps he invented.
0
47
348
A must-watch movie, recently added on the Netflix!
4
45
335
VALSALVA’S MANEUVER
Antonio Maria Valsalva (1666–1723), Italian physician and anatomist. His name is associated with the Valsalva antrum of the ear and the Valsalva maneuver, which is used as a test of circulatory function. He also coined the term Eustachian tube.
1
68
337
THE KING OF HERNIA REPAIR!
Edoardo Bassini, 1844–1924, Professor of Surgery, Padua, Italy. In 1890, Edoardo Bassini described a suture repair for inguinal
hernia that remained the basis of open repair for over 100
years
4
75
336

WHY IS A DOCTOR CALLED DOCTOR?
Doctor is an academic title originating from Latin verb docēre (to teach). It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, when the first doctorates were awarded at the University of Bologna and the University of Paris.
3
114
335
KEHR’S SIGN:
acute pain in the tip of the left shoulder is a classic symptom of a ruptured spleen. The discovery of this is often attributed to a German surgeon named after Johannes Otto Kehr (27 April 1862 – 20 May 1916), a German surgeon and professor of surgery.
3
74
331
Billroth Lecture Hall in the Vienna General Hospital (1888-90)
-by Austrian painter, Adalbert Franz Seligmann (1862-1945). Seligmann's probably most famous painting depicts the surgeon surgeon Theodor Billroth operating in the auditorium in front of a crowded auditorium.
2
78
329
THE MAN WHO INTRODUCED MODERN LAPAROSCOPY!
German surgeon, Georg Kelling (1866–1945), can be called as the first true laparoscopies. He performed the first ‘celioscopy’ on a dog in 1901 using air insuflation and a Nitze-cystoscope.
1
62
327
THE PERFECT SURGEON
“The perfect surgeon must have the heart of a lion and the hands of a lady, not the claws of a lion and the heart of a sheep”.
Lord Berkeley George Andrew Moynihan (1865-1936) -British Surgeon
4
74
332
Galen's "wound man" who shows all the different types of injury and how to treat them
1
75
311
A surgical operation. Oil painting by Reginald Brill, 1934-1935.
1
66
322
THE STAIN & TUBERCULOSIS!
Ziehl–Neelsen staining is a stain used world over to identify acid-fast organisms, mainly Mycobacteria.
It is named for two German doctors Franz Ziehl (1859–1926), German bacteriologist and Friedrich Carl Adolf Neelsen (1854–1898), German pathologist.
3
61
320
THE CATHETER THAT SAVES LIMBS AND … LIVES!
Dr. Thomas J. Fogarty (born: 1934) is an American surgeon and medical device inventor. He is best known for the invention of the embolectomy catheter named after him, which revolutionized the treatment of arterial emboli.
3
72
321
THE ANATOMIST & THE LINES!
Described in 1862 by Karl Ritter von Edenberg Langer (1819–1887), Austrian Professor of Anatomy, these lines represent orientation of dermal collagen fbres in the skin. Named after him, Langer’s lines guide surgeons world over to make skin incisions.
5
62
311
Vincenz Czerny (1842-1916) with Dr. Levi Cooper Lane in surgical theatre.
2
50
316
"He who studies medicine without books sails an uncharted sea, but he who studies medicine without patients does not go to sea at all."
Sir William Osler (1849-1919) - Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital.
1
85
311
FATHER OF MODERN SURGERY
William Stewart Halsted, (1852 - 1922,) - American pioneer of scientific surgery who established at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, the first surgical school in the United States. His name remains attached to a multitude of surgical procedures.
7
56
313
August Karl Gustav Bier (1861-1949) was a German surgeon. He was the first to perform spinal anesthesia and intravenous regional anesthesia.
9
67
300
THE WHITE LINE!
The white line of Toldt is an avascular plane for incision and is the anterior confluence of the colonic visceral peritoneum with the parietal peritoneum of the lateral abdominal wall. It is named after Austrian anatomist, Carl Toldt, (1840-1920).
1
80
300
GYNAECOLOGISTS . . . KNOW WHY PAP SMEAR IS CALLED PAP SMEAR?
A Pap smear is a screening test for cervical cancer. It is named after Greek physician, zoologist and microscopist Georgios Nikolaou Papanikolaou (1883-1962).
2
51
296
CHARLES MCBURNEY (1845-1913). American surgeon. Photographed in 1901 while performing an operation in Roosevelt Hospital, New York City
3
66
294
RADIOLOGICAL SIGN NAMED AFTER A COMEDIAN!
Terry-Thomas sign refers to an increase in the scapholunate space on an AP x-ray of wrist. The increased distance indicates scapholunate dissociation due to ligamentous injury.
4
50
293
THE TWO-FACED MAN!
Edward Mordake is the apocryphal subject of an urban legend who was born in the 19th century with a face at the back of his head. Legend has it that the face could whisper, laugh or cry.
8
66
296
WORLD’S FIRST CODE OF MEDICINE!
In 1750 BCE, the Code of Hammurabi, one of the earliest Babylonian codes of laws, detailing regulation governing surgeons, medical malpractice, and victim's compensation was written. wORLD’S
6
74
289
THE HEIMLICH MANEUVER
Henry Judah Heimlich (1920-2016) was an American thoracic surgeon and medical researcher. He is widely credited as the inventor of the
#Heimlich
maneuver, a technique of abdominal thrusts for stopping choking, first described in 1974.
1
86
288
THE MAN WHO GAVE THYROID ITS NAME
The thyroid gland received its modern name in the 1600s, when the anatomist Thomas Wharton likened its shape to that of an Ancient Greek shield or thyos.
7
53
277
Named after the American surgeon, Fred Bates Lund (1865–1950), is the Named after him is the Lund's node (also called Mascagni's lymph node) the sentinel lymph node of the gall bladder.
3
48
280
THE TRIAD
Charcot's triad is combination of jaundice, fever with rigors; and right upper quadrant abdominal pain. It occurs as a result of ascending cholangitis. The triad was first described by French anatomist, Jean-Martin Charcot (1825 -1893).
3
65
283
BLOODLESS FOLD OF TREVES
A flange of mesentery at the antimesenteric side of ileum proximal to the ileocaecal valve. It was discovered by Sir Fredrick Treves (1853–1923), surgeon at the London Hospital, and renowned also for operating on King Edward VII for appendicitis.
6
52
275
THE ADDICTED GENIUS!
William Stewart Halsted (1852–1922) -Professor & Chair, Surgery, Johns Hopkins University
In 1886, he was admitted for treatment to be weaned off cocaine on to morphine. Two years later, as he left hospital, he was addicted to both cocaine & morphine.
5
58
276