Tuesday, November 29, 2016
The Doctor Who Removed His Own Appendix
Leonid Ivanovich Rogozov (1934 – 2000) was a Soviet general practitioner who took part in the sixth Soviet Antarctic Expedition in 1960–1961.
He was the only doctor stationed at the Novolazarevskaya Station and, while there, developed appendicitis, which meant he had to perform an appendectomy on himself, a famous case of self-surgery.
The operation took 2 hours. He positioned himself so that he could see his own body using a mirror when doing the surgery - he made a 12 cm cut through which he found the appendix. After 5 days the doctor felt good, and after 7 days he removed the wires which had been used to sew up the body.
Dr Rogozov wrote in his diary:
I did not sleep at all last night. It hurts like the devil! A snowstorm whipping through my soul, wailing like a hundred jackals. Still no obvious symptoms that perforation is imminent, but an oppressive feeling of foreboding hangs over me… This is it… I have to think through the only possible way out: to operate on myself… It’s almost impossible… but I can’t just fold my arms and give up.
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| Half way through the operation Dr Rogozov passed out, but was able to continue. |
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