Emblem of Minas Morgul

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by Attalus

Certainly in the late nineteenth century. Medievally, no, though Elrond's Operation would not have been done in the Middle Ages, either.

Modern surgery may have begun with Dr. Ephraim McDowell of Danville, Kentucky, who performed the first successful ovariotomy in 1809. McDowell pioneered the use of ether as an anesthetic and used dilute nitric acid aerosol on wounds as a disinfectant. Unlike most nineteenth-century surgeons, McDowell tried to keep his surgery and equipment clean. (Nineteenth-century surgeons are supposed to have been notorious for reusing dirty equipment and even blood-stained garments.)

I learned about McDowell when I was asked to research what surgery he performed on young James K. Polk. At the time (autumn 1978), historians had forgotten not only what surgery was performed, but who had done it. After several days in the bowels of Vanderbilt Library, I was able to determine both, not from any biography of Polk, but from a biography of McDowell. Oddly, though, the surgery I found documented 30 years ago (appendectomy) is no longer the treatment reported today.