M.74
Inguinal Hernia (The oldest in the museum)
"A congenital
hernia from an adult. The roll of paper is passed through the inguinal canal
into the cavity of the tunica vaginalis
testis, in the place formerly occupied by the protruded intestine.
Dissected by
Percivall Pott, Esq, circa 1750."
A hernia
occurs when an organ (or part of an organ) protrudes through the wall of the cavity
which normally contains and protects it. A hernia can therefore happen in many
places on the body. This is an inguinal hernia which is very common and in fact
my younger brother suffered two at different times – luckily they can now
easily be treated with surgery and they are in fact the most common elective
surgery.
In a hernia
such as this, the small bowel descends through a weakness in the abdominal
walls and manages to protrude into the tunica
vaginalis of the testicle. (It may seem that something with the word ‘vaginalis’
in it would belong to a woman but the word ‘vagina’ actually comes from the
latin meaning ‘sheath’, so in this instance it’s the sheath which covers and
protects the testicle that we’re talking about. There are different factors
which cause hernias, some congenital, but there are lifestyle choices which can
make the likelihood of getting a hernia worse: obesity for example, or incorrect
posture and incorrectly lifting heavy weights.
In this
specimen, you can see a roll of paper which was placed there by the esteemed
surgeon Percival Pott after dissection of the hernia and removal of the intestine portion that
originally occupied that space. The pictures below will help to explain the pot:
What’s
really remarkable about this specimen is that it’s the oldest in the collection
and as you can see from the archive data it’s from around 1750. The fact that
the roll of paper has still survived is quite amazing. Unfortunately the Perspex
was leaking so I decided that for safety of the specimen and for aesthetic
appeal, I would put the hernia into a glass pot with fresh fluid. I hope you
think the results are worth it, and I’ll be chatting more about the legendary
Percivall Pott in my October lecture (see our upcoming events )
