Self-surgery in individuals with medical education: a review of six cases

Authors

Keywords:

self-surgery, self-amputation, self-assistance, self-appendectomy, self-experimentation

Abstract

Self-surgery constitutes a very infrequent modality of health self-care. The aim of this article was to present the cases of six personalities with medical training who performed eight self-surgeries between the 19th and 20th centuries. In the cases in which it was possible, additional information of interest about them was offered. Self-surgery in people with medical education is always an extraordinary achievement, generally performed by young individuals motivated by scientific curiosity or by the survival necessity when there is no accessibility to health services. A review of the national and international multilingual bibliography on this subject and on the history of medicine was carried out. The bibliographic search included printed and digital literature consisting of books and biomedical journals, newspapers, encyclopedias and websites.

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Author Biographies

Javier Cruz Rodriguez, Hospital Provincial Clínico Quirúrgico Universitario "Arnaldo Milián Castro"

Doctor en Medicina. Especialista de I Grado en Medicina General Integral. Especialista de I Grado en Cirugía General. Máster en Urgencias Médicas. Doctor en Ciencias de la Salud. Profesor Instructor en la Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Villa Clara. Investigador Auxiliar.

María Margarita Ríos Cabrera, Hospital Provincial Clínico Quirúrgico Universitario "Arnaldo Milián Castro"

Licenciada en Ciencias Farmacéuticas. Máster en Investigación y desarrollo de medicamentos. Investigadora Auxiliar.

Erick Abelardo Márquez García, Hospital Provincial Clínico Quirúrgico Universitario "Arnaldo Milián Castro"

Doctor en Medicina. Especialista de I Grado en Neurocirugía. Profesor Instructor en la Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Villa Clara.

References

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Published

2023-04-03

How to Cite

1.
Cruz Rodriguez J, Ríos Cabrera MM, Márquez García EA. Self-surgery in individuals with medical education: a review of six cases. Acta Méd Centro [Internet]. 2023 Apr. 3 [cited 2025 Jul. 12];17(2):415-22. Available from: https://revactamedicacentro.sld.cu/index.php/amc/article/view/1868

Issue

Section

Culture and Medicine