Emblem of Minas Morgul

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by Attalus

Certainly in the late nineteenth century. Medievally, no, though Elrond's Operation would not have been done in the Middle Ages, either.

Modern surgery may have begun with Dr. Ephraim McDowell of Danville, Kentucky, who performed the first successful ovariotomy in 1809. McDowell pioneered the use of ether as an anesthetic and used dilute nitric acid aerosol on wounds as a disinfectant. Unlike most nineteenth-century surgeons, McDowell tried to keep his surgery and equipment clean. (Nineteenth-century surgeons are supposed to have been notorious for reusing dirty equipment and even blood-stained garments.)

I learned about McDowell when I was asked to research what surgery he performed on young James K. Polk. At the time (autumn 1978), historians had forgotten not only what surgery was performed, but who had done it. After several days in the bowels of Vanderbilt Library, I was able to determine both, not from any biography of Polk, but from a biography of McDowell. Oddly, though, the surgery I found documented 30 years ago (appendectomy) is no longer the treatment reported today.

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

I always envisioned Elrond using some sort of magnet inserted through a small incision to remove the shard from Frodo. As a non-surgeon a magnet makes sense to me. What does the Moot's resident surgeon think of that possibility?

[Attalus]

Foreign bodies, even with the advent of fluoroscopy, can be a pain. The trouble with them is that they are always deeper than you think/hope they are, and there are all sorts of things that can give you a solid feel when you are probing. You dare not just go ripping out every thing that goes "click" on your instrument, or you may damage vital structures, or even just useful ones (arteries, veins, small nerves) Magnets don't help, except in the eye, and not always then. The best thing is to make an adequate incision ("they heal from side to side, not from end to end," my old Chief used to say) and then go down layer by layer, looking for color changes and/or changes in density. I have always pictured Elrond as making several attempts, each time in a different direction, until he struck, er, steel. How well I know the feeling!

[Nautipus]

Originally Posted by Attalus

We also say "Cold steel is the best deal."

I've gotta say (being surrounded by surgeons: Dad, mom, friends) I here some funny stuff from time to time, but never that.