Kocher was Professor of Surgery at Berne, and among the greatest surgeons of his day. He is remembered, among other things, for his method of reduction of subluxation of the shoulder-joint.

Kocher, a pupil of Billroth, was a pioneer of thyroidectomy for goitre. Before his time the operation was seldom performed. Garrison says that Kocher performed this difficult operation 2,000 times, with a mortality rate of only 4.5 per cent.

In 1909 Kocher was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his work in the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid."

Kocher’s operation of radical extirpation of the tongue for carcinoma.

Kocher coined the term “cachexia strumipriva” to describe the myxedema following total extirpation of the thyroid. His work on the subject led to a better understanding of the cause of myxedema.

Kocher introduced silk sutures.

Kocher’s hernia operation.