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The Story of Dr Leonid Rogozov
This amazing story happened in 1961.
27-year-old Dr Leonid Rogozov was a member of the sixth Soviet Antarctic expedition.
On April 29, 1961 he fell ill.
He noticed symptoms of weakness, malaise, nausea, and, later, pain in the upper part of his abdomen, which shifted to the right lower quadrant.
His body temperature rose to 37.5°C.1 2 Rogozov wrote in his diary:
"It seems that I have appendicitis. I am keeping quiet about it, even smiling. Why frighten my friends? Who could be of help? A polar explorer’s only encounter with medicine is likely to have been in a dentist’s chair." On the next day after all the available conservative treatment was applied (antibiotics, local cooling) Rogozov decided to perform a self surgeon. With the team’s meteorologist holding the retractors, a driver to hold the mirror and other scientists passing surgical implements, he sat in a reclined position and cut out his own appendix under local anesthetic. During the operation he passed out, but was able to continue and complete the procedure in little less than two hours.
This amazing story happened in 1961.
27-year-old Dr Leonid Rogozov was a member of the sixth Soviet Antarctic expedition.
On April 29, 1961 he fell ill.
He noticed symptoms of weakness, malaise, nausea, and, later, pain in the upper part of his abdomen, which shifted to the right lower quadrant.
His body temperature rose to 37.5°C.1 2 Rogozov wrote in his diary:
"It seems that I have appendicitis. I am keeping quiet about it, even smiling. Why frighten my friends? Who could be of help? A polar explorer’s only encounter with medicine is likely to have been in a dentist’s chair." On the next day after all the available conservative treatment was applied (antibiotics, local cooling) Rogozov decided to perform a self surgeon. With the team’s meteorologist holding the retractors, a driver to hold the mirror and other scientists passing surgical implements, he sat in a reclined position and cut out his own appendix under local anesthetic. During the operation he passed out, but was able to continue and complete the procedure in little less than two hours.
