William Cookesley, William Hunter and the first patient to survive removal of the appendix in 1731 – A case history with 31 years’ follow up

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.