Asa G Yancey: The first to describe a modification of the Swenson Technique for Hirschsprung disease

Abstract

Hirschsprung disease is a common disease treated by surgeons using different approaches. One approach is eponymously ascribed to Franco Soave and Scott Boley involving a pull-through of ganglionated colon through a distal portion of aganglionated rectum. However, more recent evidence has shown that this same technique was described twelve years before by Asa Yancey, a black surgeon. A review of the evidence follows with a focus on why Yancey may not have rightly received the credit that was because of him.

Keywords: Hirschsprung; Pull-through; Soave; Yancey.