William Cookesley, a surgeon in Devon, England, successfully operated on a patient with an Amyand hernia in 1731, incidentally excising the appendix. His patient is the earliest documented to have survived appendicectomy. This was confirmed by a post mortem examination 31 years later. Part of the remaining bowel was preserved by William Hunter and this specimen remains in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow.
AmyandC. Of an inguinal rupture with a pin in the appendix coeci incrusted with stone and some observations on wounds in the guts. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B: Biol Sci1735–1736; 39: 329–342.
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HutchinsonR. Amyand’s hernia. J R Soc Med1993; 86: 104–105.
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CookesleyW. A considerable share of the intestines cut off after a mortification in a hernia and cured by Mr William Cookesley surgeon in Crediton. Medical essays and observations revised and published by a society in Edinburgh1742; Vol. V, part I, Edinburgh, pp. 427–431.
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Teacher J. Catalogue of the anatomical and pathological preparations of Dr William Hunter in the Hunterian museum university of Glasgow, Vol. II. Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons, 1900, pp.476–477.
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An extract of a letter from Mr. Symond [sic] surgeon at Exeter to Dr William Hunter containing a further account of a curious case related in the medical essays of the society of Edinburgh Vol. V. art. XXXIII. Read Aug.1 1763. Medical observations and inquiries by a society of physicians in London1767; Vol. III, London, pp. 64–68.
