[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 167 (Monday, November 9, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S11285]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        BICENTENNIAL OF DR. EPHRAIM McDOWELL'S HISTORIC SURGERY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the Commonwealth of Kentucky has many 
heroes. Yet only two have been granted significant prominence to have 
their likeness stand on permanent display within the halls of the U.S. 
Capitol building.
  The Great Compromiser, Henry Clay, is one of those who have earned 
such distinction. And the second statue recognizes the contributions of 
Dr. Ephraim McDowell to modern medicine. While his might not be a 
household name, Dr. McDowell's contribution to surgical procedure is 
nonetheless momentous, making him one of only two Kentuckians in 
history to be recognized in the Capitol.
  It was 200 years ago that Dr. McDowell performed the world's first 
successful ovariotomy. What Mrs. Jane Todd Crawford of Green County, 
KY, mistook for twins, Dr. McDowell correctly diagnosed as a 22-pound 
ovarian tumor.
  Mrs. Crawford begged Dr. McDowell to prevent her from dying a slow 
and painful death. The young doctor explained that her only option was 
to have experimental surgery, and he went further in explaining that 
none who had previously undergone such surgery had survived. 
Undeterred, Mrs. Crawford pressed Dr. McDowell to perform the surgery 
and made the 60-mile horseback ride to Danville, KY, on December 13, 
1809.
  By the end of the 25-minute procedure, which was performed without 
anesthetic, Mrs. Crawford's tumor had been removed and she was able to 
make an uncomplicated recovery. She would go on to live another 32 
years. In time, Dr. McDowell would go on to perform nearly a dozen more 
such procedures, and his meticulous notes of performing a successful 
abdominal surgery would be reviewed and taught on two continents.
  In those notes, he wrote about his first success:

       Having never seen so large a substance extracted, nor heard 
     of an attempt, or success attending any operation such as 
     this required, I gave to the unhappy woman information of her 
     dangerous situation. The tumor appeared full in view, but was 
     so large we could not take it away entire. We took out 
     fifteen pounds of a dirty, gelatinous-looking substance. 
     After which we cut through the fallopian tube, and extracted 
     the sac, which weighed seven pounds and one-half. In five 
     days I visited her, and much to my astonishment found her 
     making up her bed.

  Madam President, it is not just Mrs. Crawford who owes a debt of 
gratitude to Dr. Ephraim McDowell. Indeed, because of his efforts and 
courage, the entire field of medicine made great advancements and 
society as a whole is the better. With the bicentennial of this 
remarkable accomplishment soon approaching, I thought it fitting for us 
to take a moment and remember this man who Kentucky rightfully honors 
with a place in the U.S. Capitol.

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