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269:"Having never seen so large a substance extracted, nor heard of an attempt, or success attending any operation such as this required, I gave to the unhappy woman information of her dangerous situation. The tumor appeared full in view, but was so large we could not take it away entire. We took out fifteen pounds of a dirty, gelatinous looking substance. After which we cut through the fallopian tube, and extracted the sac, which weighed seven pounds and one half. In five days I visited her, and much to my astonishment found her making up her bed."
224:, 60 miles (97 km) from Danville. Her physicians thought that Mrs. Crawford was beyond term pregnant. McDowell diagnosed an ovarian tumor. Crawford begged him to keep her from a slow and painful death. He then described her condition and that an operation for cure had never been performed. He said that the best surgeons in the world thought it impossible. Crawford said she understood and wanted to proceed. McDowell told her he would remove the tumor if she would travel to his home in Danville. She agreed and rode the 60 miles on horseback.
892:
273:
33:
227:
On
Christmas morning, 1809, McDowell began his operation. The surgery was performed without benefit of anesthetic or antisepsis, neither of which was then known to the medical profession. The tumor McDowell removed weighed 22.5 pounds (10.2 kg). He determined that it would be difficult to remove
252:
How is it that I have been so peculiarly fortunate with my patients of this description?, I know not; for, from all the information I can obtain, there has not one individual survived who has been operated, on elsewhere, for diseased ovaria. I can only say that the blessing of God has rested on my
240:
and cut open the tumor. He described the tumor as the ovarium and fimbrious part of the fallopian tube very much enlarged. The whole procedure took 25 minutes. Crawford made an uncomplicated recovery. She returned to her home in Green County 25 days after the operation and lived another 32 years.
261:
and death. Descriptions of McDowell include phrases like "neat and clean" or "scrupulously clean." He was not only neat, but meticulous. In his report on the operation, he described the removal of blood from the peritoneal cavity and bathing the intestines with warm water.
265:
McDowell did not publish a description of his procedure until 1817, after he had performed two more such operations. This was widely criticized in the
English surgical literature. There is evidence that he performed at least 12 operations for ovarian pathology.
281:
351:. His wife died 18 years later. They were buried at "Traveller's Rest", the homestead of Isaac Shelby, south of Danville, Kentucky but were reinterred in 1879, near a monument dedicated to him in Danville.
383:. The statue depicts the ovarian tumor that McDowell removed from Jane Crawford, sitting in a bowl on the table behind McDowell. An identical statue by the same artist stands in the rotunda of the
313:
196:
In 1795, McDowell returned from
Scotland, settled in Danville, Kentucky, and began his practice as a surgeon. McDowell perfected the modern surgical technique of
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989:
748:
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406:
969:
308:
McDowell played a prominent role in his community. He was also a founder, original corporator, and member of the primary board of trustees of
336:
1004:
164:
McDowell received his early education at the classical seminary of Worley and James, then spent three years as a medical student under Dr.
347:
In June 1830, McDowell was stricken with an acute attack of violent pain, nausea, and fever. He died on June 25, most likely a victim of
1019:
1009:
412:
398:
honoring McDowell, in the
Danville, Kentucky, post office, marking the 150th anniversary of the first successful ovarian operation.
994:
790:
276:
Commemorative stamp honoring
Ephraim McDowell, issued December 30, 1959, the 150th anniversary of successful ovarian operation
563:
633:"The Christmas miracle of 1809: How a "backwoodsman without a diploma to practice" became the father of abdominal surgery"
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380:
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112:(November 11, 1771 – June 25, 1830) was an American physician and pioneer surgeon. The first person to successfully
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325:
536:
Lee, R. V., & Eimerl, S. (1967). LIFE Science
Library: The Physician. New York, NY: Time, Inc., p. 193.
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129:
53:
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979:
368:
816:
Doctors Who
Followed Christ: Thirty-Two Biographies of Eminent Physicians and Their Christian Faith
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173:
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402:
384:
317:
221:
936:
492:
372:
200:, for removal of stones obstructing the urinary bladder. One of his most famous patients was
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137:
555:
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360:
In 1879, a monument in his honor was erected by the
Medical Society of Kentucky in Danville.
297:
In 1802, McDowell married Sarah Shelby, daughter of war hero and two-time
Kentucky governor
964:
959:
364:
8:
686:
513:"Family relationship of Mary (Todd) Lincoln and Dr. Ephraim McDowell via Samuel McDowell"
469:
Kentucky Rising: Democracy, Slavery, and
Culture from the Early Republic to the Civil War
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660:
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723:. Ephraim McDowell, "Father of Ovariotomy" and Founder of Abdominal Surgery, p. 4; 58
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738:. Ephraim McDowell, "Father of Ovariotomy" and Founder of Abdominal Surgery, p. 126
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320:, whose statue was placed in the National Statuary Hall Collection by the state of
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144:. In 1784 Samuel McDowell was appointed land commissioner and moved his family to
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148:. There, he presided over ten conventions that resulted in the drafting of the
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233:
116:, he has been called "the father of ovariotomy" as well as founding father of
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205:
201:
248:, McDowell's response to this event was recorded in one of his biographies:
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McDowell, Ephraim (1817). "Three cases of extirpation of diseased ovaria".
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332:
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245:
113:
101:
735:
Ephraim McDowell, "Father of Ovariotomy" and Founder of Abdominal Surgery
720:
Ephraim McDowell, "Father of Ovariotomy" and Founder of Abdominal Surgery
272:
258:
791:"Art at Capitol honors 141 enslavers and 13 Confederates. Who are they?"
401:
McDowell's house, office, and apothecary in Danville are preserved as a
241:
This was the first successful removal of an ovarian tumor in the world.
339:
in Danville, Kentucky, having donated the land for its first building.
220:
On December 13, 1809, McDowell was called to see Jane Todd Crawford in
687:"Making a man, a great man: Ephraim McDowell, ovariotomy and history"
197:
942:
The biography of Ephraim McDowell, M.D., "the father of ovariotomy.
394:
In 1959, on December 3, the U.S. Post office first issued a 4-cent
177:
32:
257:
All attempts at abdominal exploration before 1809 had resulted in
321:
861:
435:
The History of Surgery in the United States, 1775–1900, Volume 2
237:
209:
498:
Biography of Ephraim McDowell M.D., "the Father of Ovariotomy"
316:
in 1817. McDowell was the great-great-grandfather of General
910:"Our Pioneer Heroine of Surgery, Mrs. Jane Todd Crawford"
696:. Brisbane Australia: Queensland University of Technology
881:"The Dr. Ephraim McDowell Memorial in Richmond Kentucky"
751:. surgical-tutor.org.uk. January 5, 2008. Archived from
550:
Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America
152:. Samuel was the 2nd great-grandfather of First Lady
136:
and Mary McDowell. His father was a veteran of the
584:"Ephraim McDowell The Qualities of a Good Surgeon"
547:
501:. New York, New York: McDowell Publishing Company.
456:A Bibliography of Medical and Biomedical Biography
324:in 1930. He was cousin to woman's suffrage leader
301:. They had two sons and four daughters. He was a
156:, making her Ephraim McDowell's great-grandniece.
184:. He never received a diploma, but in 1825, the
951:
624:
180:, from 1793 to 1794 and studied privately with
879:McCormack, Mrs. Arthur Thomas (October 1930).
375:to the state of Kentucky for placement in the
454:Leslie Thomas Morton, Robert J. Moore, 2005,
312:in Danville. McDowell became a member of the
990:Converts to Anglicanism from Presbyterianism
908:McCormack, Mrs. Arthur Thomas (April 1932).
821:
713:
711:
694:Social Change in the 21st Century Conference
172:. He attended lectures in medicine at the
577:
575:
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331:McDowell was a Presbyterian but became an
188:conferred on him an honorary M.D. degree.
31:
907:
878:
708:
607:
773:
767:
581:
545:
467:James Ramage, Andrea S. Watkins (2011).
413:Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center
279:
271:
1000:People from Rockbridge County, Virginia
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572:
554:. New York: Random House, Inc. p.
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952:
854:
970:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
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1005:19th-century American Episcopalians
842:. Smithsonian National Stamp Museum
215:
13:
872:
600:10.1097/01.sla.0000124382.04128.5a
474:
415:in Danville is named in his honor.
14:
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381:National Statuary Hall Collection
286:National Statuary Hall Collection
1020:19th-century American physicians
1010:18th-century American physicians
685:Bowra, Jean (October 28, 2005).
582:Othersen, H Biemann (May 2004).
292:
946:(1890). New York, C.L. Webster
862:"Ephraim McDowell House Museum"
832:
808:
782:
726:
16:19th-century American physician
995:People from Danville, Kentucky
828:New International Encyclopedia
818:. Kregel Publications. p. 231.
749:"Ephraim McDowell (1771–1830)"
530:
505:
471:. University Press of Kentucky
461:
448:
426:
326:Madeline McDowell Breckinridge
1:
914:Filson Club History Quarterly
885:Filson Club History Quarterly
649:10.1016/j.amjsurg.2019.01.003
419:
123:
840:"Dr. Ephraim McDowell Issue"
546:Borneman, Walter R. (2008).
314:Philadelphia Medical Society
159:
7:
776:Eclectic Repertory Anal Rev
637:American Journal of Surgery
438:. Norman Publishing, p. 90
130:Rockbridge County, Virginia
54:Rockbridge County, Virginia
10:
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631:Cirocco, WC (March 2019).
407:National Historic Landmark
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228:completely, so he tied a
191:
140:and a colonel during the
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60:
39:
30:
23:
732:August Schachner. 1921.
717:August Schachner. 1921.
342:
337:Trinity Episcopal Church
204:, for whom he removed a
174:University of Edinburgh
114:remove an ovarian tumor
975:American gynecologists
937:Ridenbaugh, Mary Young
432:Ira M. Rutkow (1988).
385:Kentucky State Capitol
318:John Campbell Greenway
289:
277:
255:
222:Green County, Kentucky
186:University of Maryland
1030:American slave owners
1025:19th-century surgeons
1015:18th-century surgeons
985:Centre College people
405:and are designated a
373:Charles Henry Niehaus
283:
275:
250:
150:Kentucky Constitution
138:French and Indian War
132:, the ninth child of
128:McDowell was born in
755:on February 26, 2008
365:Isaac Wolfe Bernheim
920:(2). Archived from
891:(4). Archived from
789:Brockell, Gillian.
396:commemorative stamp
389:Frankfort, Kentucky
284:Ephraim McDowell's
166:Alexander Humphreys
142:American Revolution
458:. Ashgate,. p. 238
369:statue of McDowell
290:
278:
170:Staunton, Virginia
146:Danville, Kentucky
72:Danville, Kentucky
980:American surgeons
924:on April 25, 2012
895:on April 25, 2012
588:Annals of Surgery
565:978-1-4000-6560-8
367:donated a bronze
154:Mary Todd Lincoln
118:abdominal surgery
107:
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100:First successful
50:November 11, 1771
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216:First ovariotomy
110:Ephraim McDowell
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234:fallopian tube
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97:Known for
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68:(aged 58)
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206:urinary stone
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202:James K. Polk
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64:June 25, 1830
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22:
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928:November 29,
926:. Retrieved
922:the original
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899:November 29,
897:. Retrieved
893:the original
888:
884:
856:
844:. Retrieved
834:
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798:. Retrieved
794:
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757:. Retrieved
753:the original
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698:. Retrieved
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670:December 23,
668:. Retrieved
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541:
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520:. Retrieved
516:
507:
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468:
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450:
433:
428:
377:U.S. Capitol
349:appendicitis
346:
335:and founded
333:Episcopalian
330:
307:
299:Isaac Shelby
296:
268:
264:
256:
251:
246:Presbyterian
243:
226:
219:
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127:
109:
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66:(1830-06-25)
18:
965:1830 deaths
960:1771 births
778:(7): 242–4.
759:October 14,
700:October 14,
303:slaveholder
259:peritonitis
232:around the
80:Occupations
954:Categories
814:Graves D.
522:August 14,
420:References
124:Early life
102:ovariotomy
46:1771-11-11
800:April 28,
363:In 1929,
236:near the
198:lithotomy
182:John Bell
160:Education
86:Physician
665:58947639
657:30670290
618:15082968
495:(1897).
253:efforts.
230:ligature
178:Scotland
609:1356272
322:Arizona
89:surgeon
663:
655:
616:
606:
562:
442:
403:museum
355:Honors
288:statue
238:uterus
210:hernia
192:Career
134:Samuel
74:, U.S.
690:(PDF)
661:S2CID
343:Death
244:As a
930:2011
901:2011
848:2013
802:2023
761:2008
702:2008
672:2020
653:PMID
614:PMID
560:ISBN
524:2024
440:ISBN
61:Died
40:Born
645:doi
641:217
604:PMC
596:doi
592:239
387:in
379:'s
371:by
168:in
956::
939:.
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912:.
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710:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
