Eponyms and Descriptive Names in Plastic Surgery

There are several eponyms and descriptive terms used in Medicine and there is ongoing debate about their usefulness. Plastic Surgery perhaps has more descriptive terms, due to visible nature of the pathology and the several innovative surgical procedures described. There has never been an attempt to classify these terms. This article attempts to classify them and also briefly discusses the origins of some of the commonly used terms. Dr. Rajive Mathew Jose Dept of Plastic Surgery Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre Birmingham B15 2 TH E-mail: [email protected] and attempts to categorise and propose a classication for them, which to the best of our knowledge has never been attempted before (Table 1). Table 1: Classication of Eponyms and Descriptive terms in Plastic Surgery Though this classication has been derived from eponyms popular in Plastic Surgery, the same can be applied to those from other medical and surgical disciplines as well. The authors are acutely aware that many of these terms are politically incorrect in the current practice and by no means advocate using them while communicating with patients. They do however have a historic and literary value and do add some flavour to the otherwise mundane medical jargon. Though an eponym, strictly speaking, is 'a name derived from the name of a real or mythical person,' in the context of this article, the term is used loosely to include names and descriptive terms derived from both people, animals, plants, professions and places. Eponyms and Descriptive Names in Plastic Surgery Persons attempting to nd a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; Persons attempting to nd a moral in it will be banished; Persons attempting to nd a plot in it will be shot. M a r k Tw a i n ( A d v e n t u re s o f Huckleberry Finn) Eponyms and descriptive names continue to be used in medical parlance despite the 1-5 debates about their utility. They are particularly popular in Plastic Surgery, due to the externally visible nature of many of the lesions encountered and also the numerous innovative procedures employed. Eponyms are used to describe diseases, clinical signs, syndromes, surgical procedures, instruments and also numerous flaps. Though there are eponyms and descriptive names derived from various flora and fauna, both real and ctional, there has never been an attempt at classifying them. This paper looks at some of these eponyms and descriptive names within Plastic Surgery Eponyms and Descriptive Names in Plastic Surgery