Garnett Passe and the tonsillectomy gag

Abstract

Kevin Kane has written about the painting by Barbara Hepworth of Garnett Passe performing a tonsillectomy, and wondered about the way in which the gag appears to be suspended. This article traces historically the various methods of holding the gag for tonsillectomy, and postulates that what is illustrated in the Hepworth painting is a jack owned by the late Dr Sydney Cocks, who not only was a friend of Passe but who also commenced the discussions with Passe's widow, Barbara, concerning the formation by her of a trust to support young Australian ENT surgeons, which eventually became The Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation.

New anticoagulants, a new book and old gags

“…For those with a bent for medical history, Rice's paper on the history of the tonsillectomy gag, inspired by a Barbara Hepworth painting, is a good place to start in the study of tonsillectomy history 4 . Last year's paper of Lamprell and Ahluwalia is a run down of the named instruments on the tonsillectomy tray, which all staff should be familiar with 5 …”