A portrait of prefrontal lobotomy performed at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney by Dr Rex Money

Abstract

Objective:

The objective of this article is to provide a portrait of prefrontal lobotomy performed at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney by the Head of Neurosurgery Dr Rex Money and to describe Dr Money’s role in the promotion of psychosurgery in Sydney.

Methods:

We draw attention to an oral presentation by Dr Rex Money in 1951, a journal article written by Money, archival information held at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, including Dr Money’s accounts of his travels and his reports regarding neurosurgery – both internationally and in Australia.

Results:

Dr Rex Money performed a series of 13 prefrontal lobotomies between 1945 and 1951, and presented the theoretical basis for his series, his operative procedures and the outcomes at the annual meeting of its medical officers’ association.

Conclusion:

Notwithstanding various deficiencies in his clinical research, Money’s descriptions give a relatively comprehensive account of one of the first series of prefrontal lobotomies performed in Australia. The current article also describes Dr Money’s contributions to the promotion of psychosurgery in Sydney, and illustrates the participation of a senior neurosurgeon and of a major Sydney teaching hospital during the psychosurgery saga.