Joseph Pancoast

Joseph Pancoast (November 23, 1805 – March 6, 1882) was an American surgeon. His name is eponymic to the practice of surgery, in general, and cosmetic surgery, in particular.

Pancoast was responsible for many seminal advancements in surgery that he described, and were depicted graphically, in numerous scholarly articles and books. His greatest work, A Treatise on Operative Surgery, was published in 1844. Famous for his lectures and clinics in anatomy and surgery, Pancoast also received attention for his ability to perform surgery with either hand as he was ambidextrous. Furthermore, Pancoast was the first to demonstrate a substitute eyebrow coined a "long pedicle", and frequently replaced eyelids and ears. Pancoast was also among the first to section facial nerve to relieve neuralgia. On the eye, Pancoast operated upon cataracts. He also performed major surgery such as amputations at the hip-joint, as well as lithotomy.

Biography Pancoast was born of Quaker parentage at Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, the son of John Pancoast (1771 – 1841) and Ann Abbott, his wife. Joseph Pancoast married Rebecca Abbott.

In 1828, Pancoast was awarded a degree in medicine by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From 1839 to 1841, he was Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College. From 1841 until his resignation in 1874, Pancoast was Chairman of the Department of Anatomy at the same institution. He was succeeded by his son, William Henry Pancoast, who was also a renowned surgeon. One of his patients was the famous diarist LeRoy Wiley Gresham.

Pancoast was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1851.