Gifted hands

TL;DRAbstract

In Gifted Hands: America’s Most Significant Contributions to Surgery, Seymour Schwartz reviews the history of surgery in North America, covering the evolution and advances in this field from the colonial period to the present. The book chronicles the stories of individuals who first successfully invaded a body compartment or developed a life-saving technique that changed the way surgery was subsequently practiced. The stories contain fascinating detail about not only the surgeons, but also their patients, some of whom were essentially partners in the high-risk experiment that would either improve or end their lives. There is the unforgettable story of Jane Todd Crawford, the courageous patient who would become forever linked to a “daring” surgeon who launched the field of intra-abdominal surgery in 1809. Upon examining Crawford in her home, Dr. Ephraim McDowell said that he would attempt to remove the tumor (which had been incorrectly diagnosed as a growing fetus) if she could make it

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