Science of a sign

Murphy's sign is a sign elicited by doctors in cases of acute cholecystitis. The doctor keeps his hand below the right costal margin and the patient is asked to take a deep breath. If the patient complains of pain on inspiration, the sign is considered to be positive.This is because the gall bladder, which is inflamed, comes and touches the examiner's fingers.

The sign is named after John Benjamin Murphy, who was called by Mayo as" the surgical genius of our generation". He described innovative procedures in vascular surgery, thoracic surgery, plastic surgery, urology, orthopedics, general surgery and neurosurgery.

Some eponyms related to him are:

•  Murphy’s button- a mechanical device used for intestinal anastomosis

•  Murphy's punch- a punch tenderness at the costo-vertebral angle in cases of perinephric abscess

• Murphy’s test- a test for deep-seated tenderness and muscular rigidity in cases of perinephric abscess

• Murphy drip for administration of fluids by proctoclysis in patients with peritonitis

• Murphy-Lane bone skid-a common commercial steel instrument used for femoral head procedures

He was a founding member of the American College of surgeons and predicted his own autopsy findings ( He died due to aortitis).

The Harmony and the destruction!

This article is about the harmonic scalpel which is an instrument used to cut and cauterize tissues. The instrument uses ultrasound vibrations at a frequency of about 55,00 Hz. At such a high frequency, the molecules are denatured and heated up and die. The instrument is useful in performing advanced surgeries like laparoscopic gastrointestinal surgeries. It is manufactured by ETHICON.
Why is it called 'Harmonic Scalpel'? There is no data available on the origin of that term.
The inventor seems to be Mr Warren Jewett as per patent filing.
   

Colonoscopy- The beginning

It is said that the colonoscopy procedure is as much dreaded by patients as a root canal. Colonoscope is a snake-like instrument that traverses the large intestine from rectum to caecum. The development of colonoscopes was considered a quantum advance in abdominal surgery. It was developed by Dr Wolff, in association with Dr Shinya and Olympus.Their most significant achievement was developing the technique of polypectomy during colonoscopy. They also developed the protocol of using one doctor instead of two for the procedure. Currently, 1.6 million colonoscopies are being performed annually in the USA.