The colon

Abstract

Historically, the role of the early coloproctologist was to treat the multitude of anorectal conditions with which mankind suffers. The ancient Egyptians as early as 1,700 BC recorded descriptions for treating many diseases with such concoctions as honey and sweet beer enemas. The Greeks however were more surgical, and Hippocrates wrote famously on the surgical approach to hemorrhoids and fistulas. The transition from simple proctology to abdominal surgery occurred with the diagnosis of appendicitis in Edward VII, immediately prior to his coronation in 1902. The Royal surgeon Frederick Treves drained the appendiceal abscess successfully, and the move to abdominal surgery was made.