Leonid Rogozov

Biographical Timeline

• Born March 14, 1934 in Dauriya, Borzinsky District, Chita Oblast (Soviet Union).
• 1953 – Completes secondary school in Minusinsk; admitted to the Leningrad Pediatric Medical Institute.
• 1959 – Graduates as a general practitioner. Commences surgical training.
• 1960 – Interrupts training to join the Sixth Soviet Antarctic Expedition as sole medical officer at the new station. Expedition ship Ob sails from Leningrad on November 5, 1960.
• 1961 – Novolazarevskaya Station on February 18, 1961 (Schirmacher Oasis).
• 1961 (April 30) – Develops symptoms of acute appendicitis with deterioration despite conservative treatment. Performs auto-appendicectomy under local anaesthesia, assisted by colleagues
• 1961 – Awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
• 1962 – Expedition ship docks at Leningrad on May 29. Rogozov returns to clinic work the next day.
• 1966 – Publishes dissertation: Resection of the Esophagus for Treating Esophageal Cancer.
• 1986–2000 – Head of Surgery, Saint Petersburg Research Institute for Tubercular Pulmonology.
• Dies on September 21, 2000 in Saint Petersburg.

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Key Medical Contributions

Auto-appendicectomy in Antarctica — Rogozov (1961; published 1962)

• April 29, 1961 (morning) – Rogozov became unwell with weakness, malaise, nausea, then developed epigastric pain migrating to the right iliac fossa; temperature 37.4°C. He judged it “clearly a case of appendicitis.”
• April 30, 1961 – Attempted conservative management (non-operative) without success; the inflammatory process progressed. Worsening clinical picture with concern for perforation: rising temperature, more frequent vomiting, and deteriorating general condition. By evening there were signs consistent with pyoappendicitis, and he judged immediate surgery necessary.
• Logistics problem – No timely evacuation: Mirny was ~900 km away; nearer foreign stations lacked aircraft; blizzard ruled out flight.
• Decision – “The only solution was to operate on myself.”

Preparation and team

• Instruments/sterility – Equipment stored in sub-zero conditions; re-sterilisation arranged; a sterile novocaine solution prepared for local anaesthesia.
• Assistants assigned –
  • A.N. Artem’yev to hold retractors.
  • Z.M. Teplinskiy to use a mirror for visualisation of areas not directly visible.

Operation (April 30, 1961, late evening)

• Positioning – Semi-reclining, half-turned to the left, weight on left hip; lower body elevated ~30°, minimising mirror use.
• 22:00 (Moscow time) – Abdominal wall infiltrated with 0.5% novocaine.
• 22:15 – “typical” incision of 10–12 cm.
• Mirror use – Used for: exposing the peritoneum, suturing the peritoneum, and finding the appendix (steps requiring precision where the wound depth was hard to see). Otherwise he mostly operated without it, sometimes by feel.
• Intra-op physiology – After 30–40 minutes: marked weakness and vertigo → short rests required.
• Findings – Appendix “severely diseased” with a 2 × 2 cm perforation at its base.
• Completion – Antibiotics placed in the peritoneal cavity; wound closed; operation finished at midnight.

Postoperative course

• Days 4–7 – Bowel/urinary function normal by day 4; peritonitis signs resolved; afebrile by day 5; stitches out day 7; wound healed.
• Return to work – Back to normal duties within 2 weeks; heavy work after 1 month.

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Major Publications

• Rogozov LI. Self Operation. Soviet Antarctic Expedition Information Bulletin, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC. 1964; 4: 223-224

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References

Biography

• Rogozov V. Operace vlastního apendixu v Antarktidě. Práce jako práce, život jako život. Vesmír 2004; 83(1): 25
• Rogozov V, Bermel N. Auto-appendectomy in the Antarctic: case report. BMJ. 2009 Dec 10;339:b4965.
• That self-appendectomy. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
• Nwaogbe C, Simonds EA, D’Antoni AV, Tubbs RS. Surgeons performing self-surgery: A review from around the world. Translational Research in Anatomy. 2018;10:1–3.
• Radhakrishnan J, Koo N. Atypical appendectomies. Hektoen International. 2021.
• КУЧКО M. How a surgeon cut out his own appendix on an Antarctic expedition. SB Belarus today, 2024
• Cadogan M. Auto-appendicectomy. LITFL