An Iatrogenic Injury? Anthony Eden and the Suez Crisis of 1956.

In 1953, Eden, then Britain's Foreign Secretary, sustained a bile duct injury during a cholecystectomy. After reconstructive surgery at the Lahey Clinic, he continued to experience episodes of cholangitis, notably during the Suez Crisis of 1956. By then prime minister, the crisis ended in a humiliating retreat for Eden and for Britain. The role that his iatrogenic injury, its long term sequelae, and the cocktail of drugs he took to treat them played in his decision making has been an ongoing source of debate almost from the time of the crisis. This article reviews the Suez crisis, Eden's medical history, and the debate over Eden's health.

Beyond the Retractor: The Surgical Contributions of Enrique and Ricardo Finochietto.

The Finochietto thoracic retractor is a familiar instrument to most surgeons. The contributions to surgery of its inventor, Argentinean surgeon Enrique Finochietto and his brother, Ricardo Finochietto, extend far beyond a single instrument. This paper reviews their careers and legacy. Both brothers were part of an international network of elite surgeons. Their contributions are reflected in the number of instruments and eponyms associated with their name.

An unembalmed cadaveric preparation for simulating pleural effusion: A pilot study of chest percussion involving medical students.

Cadaveric simulations are an effective way to add clinical context to an anatomy course. In this study, unembalmed (fresh) cadavers were uniquely prepared to simulate pleural effusion to teach chest percussion and review thoracic anatomy. Thirty first-year medical students were assigned to either an intervention (Group A) or control group (Group B). Group A received hands-on training with the cadaveric simulations. They were instructed on how to palpate bony landmarks for identifying the diaphragm and lobes of the lungs, as well as on how to properly perform chest percussion to detect abnormal fluid in the pleural space. Students in Group B practiced on each other. Students in Group A benefited from the training in several ways. They had more confidence in their percussive technique (A = mean 4.3/5.0, B = 2.9/5.0), ability to count the ribs on an intact body (A = mean 4.0/5.0, B = 3.0/5.0), and ability to identify the lobes of the lungs on an intact body (A = mean 3.8/5.0, B = 2.3/5.0). They also demonstrated a greater ability to locate the diaphragm on an intact body (A = 100%, B = 60%) and detect abnormal pleural fluid (A = 93%, B = 53%) with greater confidence (A = mean 3.7/5.0, B = 2.5/5.0). Finally, the hands-on training with the unembalmed cadavers created more excitement around learning in Group A compared with Group B. This study shows that simulating pleural effusion in an unembalmed cadaver is a useful way to enhance anatomy education. Anat Sci Educ 10: 160-169. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

Drs. William J. Mayo and Franklin H. Martin: Leaders in establishing the College's unique identity.

As Past-President, [Dr. Mayo] accompanied Dr. Martin on an official trip to Panama, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay in 1920, where they met with presidents as well as leading surgeons and health officials. A number of prominent South American surgeons received Fellowship in the College, establishing a connection that endures to this day.

A short history of health care reform: Minnesota Medicine's perspective, 1934-1967.

From 1934 through 1967, Minnesota Medicine published a section called Medical Economics. The editors used the section to address the politics and economics of health care and health insurance by excerpting news items, reprinting opinion pieces, and contributing original material to inform and influence the readership. This article reviews the history of health care reform and organized medicine's response to it as reflected in this section of the journal.

Causation and cleanliness: George Callender, wounds, and the debates over Listerism.

This article reexamines the surgical and historiographic debate over antisepsis and the germ theory through the work of the prominent London surgeon George W. Callender (1830-1879) and the statistical records of St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Surgeons in the mid-nineteenth century faced a rising incidence of wound infection and its systemic complications. Examining mortality and complication rates by type of wound, however, suggests that the extent of this crisis is often overstated. Callender himself occupied a frequently overlooked middle ground in the debate over Listerism. On the one hand, his program of cleanliness, which antedated Lister's work and extended from the wound to the ward, produced excellent and influential results. On the other, while he was never an explicit critic of the germ theory, his writings demonstrate why Lister's collapse of causation into a single etiologic agent was so difficult for surgeons to accept.