Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

John Benjamin Murphy — Pioneer of gastrointestinal anastomosis

  • Teachers/Surgeons From The Past
  • Published:
Indian Journal of Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

“He made most simple subjects exciting and the most abstruse subjects clear”

Sir Richman Godlee

Abstract

Surgery as a speciality has reached an advanced refinement today both in terms of teaching and technique. With knowledge gained from years of research, teaching is now evidence-based. With the illuminating, pioneering work of a few great former surgeons, the technique of even complex surgical procedures has been well elucidated now. John Benjamin Murphy is one such surgeon to whom the speciality of surgery would remain perpetually indebted. His landmark achievements not only in gastroenterology but also in urology, orthopaedics, oncoplastic and vascular surgery would leave even a hard-core critic marvelling at his genius. Above all, Murphy was a dedicated teacher who spent 4 days a week demonstrating procedures and lecturing interested surgeons. Herein lies the greatness of the man and a tribute highlighting his achievements are in order.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Davis L (1938) JB Murphy: Stormy Petrel of Surgery. New York, NY: GP Putman’s sons

    Google Scholar 

  2. Morgenstern L (2006) John Benjamin Murphy (1857–1916): An American surgical phenomenon. Surg Innov 13:1–3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Goldwyn RM (1993) The remarkable surgical practice of John Benjamin Murphy. NEJM 329:1208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Murphy JB (1892) Cholecysto-intestinal, gastrointestinal and entero-intestinal anastomosis and approximation without sutures. Med Res Miss Valley Med Assoc 64:83–85

    Google Scholar 

  5. Urbano FL, Carroll M (2000) Murphy’s sign of cholecystitis. Hosp Phy 70:51–52

    Google Scholar 

  6. Burgess AH (1931) The John B Murphy oration on Murphy and some principles of urinary surgery. Br Med J 2:1121–1124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Milloy F (1990) The contributions of John B Murphy to thoracic surgery. Surg Gynecol Obstet 17:421–432

    Google Scholar 

  8. Siegel IM (1979) John B Murphy; early American Orthopaedic surgeon. Int Surg 64:83–85

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. “Dr John B Murphy, noted surgeon dies”. The New York Times. New York Times Company 1916-08-12

  10. Rutkow IM (1987) A history of the surgical clinics of North America. Surg Clin North Am 67:1217–1239

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Barker WF (1988) Presentation of the Murphy gavel. Arch Surg 123:1051–1052

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Morgenstern L (2002) Where have all the surgeons gone? Am J Surg 184:381

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kaushik Bhattacharya.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bhattacharya, K., Bhattacharya, N. John Benjamin Murphy — Pioneer of gastrointestinal anastomosis. Indian J Surg 70, 330–333 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12262-008-0094-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12262-008-0094-9

Keywords

Navigation