Medicine Atlas

How Healing Is Practiced
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Treatment

Appendectomy

Surgical Procedure

Appendectomy, also spelled appendicectomy, is the surgical removal of the vermiform appendix, most commonly performed as an emergency operation to treat acute appendicitis. The first recorded successful appendectomy took place in September 1731, when English surgeon William Cookesley operated on Abraham Pike, a chimney sweep. Today the procedure is performed either as an open operation through a single abdominal incision or laparoscopically through small ports, and it remains one of the most frequently performed emergency abdominal surgeries in the world.

Facts
Classification
Status
Standard of Care 1
Origin Year
1731 1
FAQs

When was the first laparoscopic appendectomy performed?

On September 13, 1980, by Kurt Semm.

Kurt Semm performed the first laparoscopic appendectomy on September 13, 1980. His operation opened the path for a much wider application of minimally invasive surgery.
Connections

Associated With

Long-Form Articles

Treats

Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia
  • History section
    On September 13, 1980, Kurt Semm performed the first laparoscopic appendectomy, opening up the path for a much wider application of minimally invasive surgery.
  • Lead section
    An appendectomy (American English) or appendicectomy (British English) is a surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appendectomy, lead section
    An appendectomy (American English) or appendicectomy (British English) is a surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed.
  • Lead, first sentence
    An appendectomy (American English) or appendicectomy (British English) is a surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed.
  • In Category: Treatments, Appendectomy - Lead section
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.