Self-surgery is rare because it requires high professionalism and certain medical skills. Sometimes loyalty to surgeons goes far beyond books, inspiring them to perform independent operations. In other cases, extreme situations force doctors to save their own life, not a stranger.
1. Cardiac catheterization
Werner Forssmann began to study medicine in 1921 in Germany. 2 years later, the surgeon came across an article by a veterinarian who used a ureteral catheter to treat animals.
In the spring of 1929, the professor rejected his request to conduct a human experiment, so Forssmann performed a heart catheterization on himself. The exact course of the experiment is unclear, since the surgeon published different versions of the process.
According to the description in his autobiography, he convinced the nurse to prepare surgical instruments and a bladder catheter made from vulcanized rubber. Then he introduced it into the vein of his right hand and, under X-ray control, brought it right into the heart.
The surgery was successful, but since the surgeon went against the professor, he was fired. Unable to find any work in the field of surgery, he went to urology. In the mid-20th century, Forssmann received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the invention of a new method of cardiac catheterization.
2. The most unpleasant appendicitis
On April 29, 1961, the 27-year-old Soviet polar explorer Leonid Rogozov felt a stitching pain in his lower abdomen. For a novice surgeon, the diagnosis was completely clear: appendicitis.
However, Rogozov was the only doctor of 13 at the Novolazarevskaya Antarctic station. The doctor could not fly out on an icy polar night to the nearest city. There was only one way to avoid certain death - to get a scalpel and cut it.
The doctor was put on a bed in a reclining position. Of course, general anesthesia was out of the question. First, he cut the cecum and stitched it, and then removed the inflamed process in accordance with the rules of surgical art. The surgeon was constantly dizzy, so I had to take several breaks.
After 1 hour 45 minutes, he successfully completed the operation, and after 2 weeks he was able to resume his service. The case fell into the headlines, and Rogozov received the Order of the Red Banner, and also lived for 39 years.
Rogozov’s fearless colleague took the camera and documented his operation for posterity. In the photo you can see Rogozov lying in his bed with a surgical mask.
3. Independent "Caesarean"
Most of the examples relate to men who have received medical training, but this reflects a different trend. Surprisingly, the woman did not have any medical education.
In March 2000, a woman independently performed a cesarean section.
She lived in a small Mexican village where there was no developed health care. The pregnant woman used 4 glasses of brandy, a kitchen knife and the help of a nurse.
When the mother pulled out the newborn, she asked the children to call a nurse. She sewed up the wounds with ordinary threads, needles and cotton wool. The woman was taken to the hospital, and after 14 days she fully recovered.
4. Appendicitis by Dr. Kane
Surgeon Evan O'Neill Kane was 60 years old and was considered hopelessly stubborn. Two doctors and several surgical nurses helped an American doctor perform appendicitis self-surgery.
The assistants placed several pillows under Kane’s neck. The do-it-yourself procedure went smoothly, as did about 4,000 cecum operations that Kane had mastered during his long life as a surgeon.
With a confident hand and a terrible smile, he opened the abdominal cavity, cut out the appendix and put it in the bowl. Assistant doctors were only allowed to suture a surgical wound. The next day, Kane, pleased with the result of the procedure, left the clinic.
5. Hernia at the Bulgarian surgeon
In 1963, a Bulgarian surgeon who worked in Austria lay down on an operating table in a hospital in Brook an der Mur. He fixed the clamped hernia with a scalpel, needle and thread. The result was overwhelming: the "danger to life" was completely eliminated after the procedure.
According to the surgeon, after 4 weeks he fully recovered.
Most surgical interventions, however, ended in failure. Therefore, an ordinary doctor without the necessary training is unlikely to be able to conduct a competent procedure.
