Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Amal e, 45 years of age, presents to the emergency room with complaints of fever and right upper quadrant abdominal pain.Could this patient have acute cholecystitis?How will you confirm your suspected diagnosis?Acute cholecystitis can be suspected in patients with a history of fever and right upper quadrant abdominal pain.Clinical examination often reveals fever, jaundice (often very subtle), and right upper quadrant tenderness.If pain with inspiratory arrest occurs when the inflamed gallbladder comes into contact with the examiner's hand, the patient has a positive Murphy's sign.Dr. John Benjamin Murphy (figure 1) will be best remembered for this clinical sign that is used in evaluating patients with acute cholecystitis.Other eponyms associated with him include Murphy drip, Murphy's button, Murphy's punch, Murphy's test, and Murphy-Lane bone skid. 1 His other pioneering works include performance of end-to-end anastomosis of hollow viscera, early surgical intervention in cases of appendicitis, use of pneumothorax to treat pulmonary tuberculosis, surgical intervention for prostate cancer, and reconstruction of ankylosed joints.His career spanned the fields of general surgery, orthopedics, neurosurgery, and cardiothoracic surgery gaining international prominence in the surgical profession.William J. Mayo described him as "the surgical genius of our generation." 2 John Benjamin Murphy was born of Irish immigrant parents on a farm in Appleton, Wisconsin on December 21, 1857.3 His parents had immigrated to the United States to escape the scourge of the potato blight in Europe.Murphy was a very eager and hardworking student.He graduated from Appleton High School in 1876 and from Rush Medical College in 1879 at 22 years of age.Unlike many of his counterparts of that era, Murphy enrolled in an 18-month internship at Cook County Hospital (Illinois), practiced for a few years, and decided to go to Europe in 1882 for 2 years of further studies.While in Europe, he studied under prominent surgeons including Dr. Theodor Billroth.
Source: Clinical Medicine & Research
DOI: 10.3121/cmr.3.2.110
Authors: K. Musana, S. H. Yale
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2110569737