science · 23 August 1768 · 256 years ago
birth
Born 23 Aug 1768; died 12 Feb 1841 at age 72.
(1st Baronet) English surgeon who was a pioneer in experimental surgery. He was the first to tie the abdominal aorta in treating an aneurysm (1817), among various other operations he performed successfully at a time before antiseptic procedures. He was devoted to the study and teaching of anatomy, and is said to have dissected daily throughout his career. In 1820, for removing a small tumour from the head of King George IV, he was rewarded with a baronetcy, and later appointed Sergeant-Surgeon to the King (1828). He wrote many medical books, including his major work The Anatomy and Surgical Treatment of Hernia (1804-07), and Dislocations and Fractures (1822). He became president of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1827, and vice-president of the Royal Society in 1830.
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