title: William Cookesley, William Hunter and the first patient to survive removal of the appendix in 1731 - A case history with 31 years' follow up.
abstract: William Cookesley, a surgeon in Devon, England, successfully operated on a patient with an Amyand hernia in 1731, incidentally excising the appendix. His patient is the earliest documented to have survived appendicectomy. This was confirmed by a post mortem examination 31 years later. Part of the remaining bowel was preserved by William Hunter and this specimen remains in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow.
authors.affiliation: Fair Park, Bow, Crediton, Devon, UK peter.selley@which.net.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Selley
mesh_terms: D001062:Appendectomy / Q000266:history* / Q000295:instrumentation; D004739:England; D049671:History, 18th Century; D012606:Scotland; D066231:Surgeons / Q000266:history*
keywords: Amyand; Appendix; Cookesley; Hernia