Kocher manoeuvre is a surgical manoeuvre to expose structures in the retroperitoneum behind the duodenum

Duodenum

The duodenum is the first section of the small intestine in most higher vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, and birds. In fish, the divisions of the small intestine are not as clear and the terms anterior intestine or proximal intestine may be used instead of duodenum...

 and pancreas

Pancreas

The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as a digestive organ, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that assist...

; for example to control hemorrhage from the inferior vena cava or aorta, or to facilitate removal of a pancreatic tumour. It is named for the Nobel prize-winning surgeon Dr. Emil Theodor Kocher

Emil Theodor Kocher

Emil Theodor Kocher was a Swiss physician, medical researcher, and Nobel laureate for his work in the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid....

.

The peritoneum

Peritoneum

The peritoneum is the serous membrane that forms the lining of the abdominal cavity or the coelom — it covers most of the intra-abdominal organs — in amniotes and some invertebrates...

is incised at the right edge of the duodenum, and the duodenum and the head of pancreas are reflected to the opposite direction, i.e. to the left.
This is also the name of a manoeuvre used to reduce anterior shoulder dislocations by externally rotating the shoulder, before adducting and internally rotating it.

External links

• The incidence of tumours in the pancreatic head ...