THE WOMEN WHO ENDURED THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL OVARIOTOMIES
Nickel-plated forceps were used to grasp small objects such as cysts and the ovaries to be removed during the surgery. Ephraim McDowell, considered the father of the ovariotomy, used this instrument during surgeries as well. His first successful ovariotomy was performed on a woman named Jane Todd Crawford in 1809. At the time, abdominal surgery was considered deadly and an extremely risky surgery, due to infection and severe blood loss. The surgery was conducted without the aid of anesthetics, antiseptics, or trained help. “The incision was made on the left side and nine inches in length, parallel to and three inches from ‘musculus rectus abdominus,’ presumably over the most prominent part of the tumor.” The operation on Jane Todd Crawford took approximately 25 minutes. During the procedure, Crawford reportedly recited psalms and sang hymns as a way to keep her mind off of the painful surgery. After the abdomen was opened, the Fallopian tube and “pedicle near the uterus” was excised, and the contents were removed. The ovarian tumor was then extracted with forceps, and the patient’s abdomen was closed up again with sutures.
Although the removal of Jane Todd Crawford’s 22 and a half pound ovarian tumor was successful, Dr. McDowell did not make any publications until he had performed three successful operations on other patients (Crawford’s surgery in 1809, along with two others in 1813 and 1816). McDowell supposedly performed a total of 13 ovariotomies, with 8 successful recoveries. These surgeries were primarily conducted on enslaved women. To operate on these enslaved women, only the owner’s permission was asked and not the enslaved women themselves.
The second surgery he performed was on an enslaved woman whose name was not mentioned. Dr. McDowell was initially hesitant to perform the surgery, but due to the slave owner’s opinion and her own poor condition, he agreed to attempt the surgery. The patient survived even though she experienced hemorrhaging and was told to rest, but was not checked up on by McDowell after the surgery. The third surgery involved another enslaved woman who worked as a cook. After her abdominal surgery, McDowell recorded that she was “cold and shaky,” so he prescribed laudanum for her.
Sources:
Eschner, Kat. “This American Doctor Pioneered Abdominal Surgery by Operating on Enslaved Women.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 19 Dec. 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/father-abdominal-surgery-practiced-enslaved-women-180967589/.
Horn, Leora, and Diana H Johnson. Ephraim McDowell, the First Ovariotomy, and the Birth of Abdominal Surgery.: Semantic Scholar. 1 Jan. 1970, www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Ephraim-McDowell%2C-the-first-ovariotomy%2C-and-the-of-Horn-Johnson/3e852be5279ff262050d576ad275b5ee5cdc8e69.
“The Journal of Foreign Medical Science and Literature.” Google Books, Google, books.google.ca/books?id=pCa3hzoPD0QC&dq=three%252520cases%252520of%252520extirpation%252520of%252520diseased%252520ovaria&pg=PA243%23v&q&f=false#v=onepage&q&f=false.
Woolley, James. Catalogue of Surgeons Instruments and Medical Appliances. Electro-Therapeutic Apparatus. Sundries for the Surgery and Sick-Room, Medicine Chests, Etc, 1896, pp. 180,