A remarkable case in the history of obstetrical surgery: a laparotomy performed by the Dutch surgeon Abraham Cyprianus in 1694

In 1700 the Dutch surgeon/medical doctor Abraham Cyprianus (1655/1660-1718) published his Epistola historiam exhibens foetus humani post XXI. menses ex uteri tuba, matre salva ac superstite excisi, a 94-page book in which several remarkable case histories are described and illustrated. The most spectacular case in the book is the accurate and detailed description of the delivery of a dead full-term child (ectopic tubar pregnancy) by a laparotomy he performed in a living woman in December 1694. The woman survived the operation and gave birth to three more children in following years. This remarkable, well-considered, brave and life-saving operation, performed in a time without antisepsis and anesthesia in a domestic situation is seldom mentioned by medical historians describing the history of obstetrics. This particular case is reviewed in this article.