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Wednesday 18 January 2012

Entry:    gastrectomy (n.)

Definition:    ‘The removal of a part of the stomach, as the pylorus, in cancer of the organ’ ( New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon 1885).

Other:    When do you think the first gastrectomy was performed?  Perhaps we should clarify, first.  I mean the first successful gastrectomy.  As it turns out,
 
"But according to Aird' the Billroth I operation was the first successful gastrectomy.  It was first successfully performed by Billroth in 1881, but had previously been unsuccessfully attempted by Pean. Farquharson' also gives 1881 as the year of Billroth's first operation."

It’s worth noting that the (un)fortunate patient died 4 months later, which may suggest some evolution of the term “successful” over the years.

SNOOT score:   1

Page:   31

Source:  Oxford English Dictionary and the British Medical Journal 1964 April 18; 1(5389) 1044, 1045 (S.D. Sarkar)

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