Friedrich TRENDELENBURG1844–1924

Friedrich TRENDELENBURG

1844–1924

Friedrich Trendelenburg was born in Berlin, Germany, where his father was a professor of phi- losophy and his mother was a teacher. Instead of attending school, he was educated at home by his parents. When his family moved to Glasgow, Scotland, he continued his studies, and in 1863 began to study anatomy and embryology.

Between 1864 and 1866 he studied medicine in various clinics, finally being granted his medical degree by the University of Berlin. Such an edu- cational background was not unusual in those days and medical students commonly studied for various periods at different institutions. After serving the required period in the army as a mil- itary surgeon, Trendelenburg returned to Berlin and came under the influence of the greatest German surgeon of the period, Bernard Langen- beck. After what would be called a residency today, lasting from 1868 to 1874, Trendelenburg became a surgeon in an important Berlin hospi- tal. A few years later he became the professor of surgery in Rostock, Germany. His academic

Jules TINEL

1879–1952

Tinel was a French neurologist who wrote an excellent book on the effects of nerve injuries during the First World War, and from it one may judge how times have changed, for nerve suture is hardly mentioned. He had a research interest in the autonomic system, producing a thick volume on the subject; he was noted for the ingenuity of his apparatus, which was often constructed of Meccano.

He was born in Rouen, the fifth in a line of dis- tinguished doctors. His father was professor of anatomy at Rouen. Tinel studied in Paris. It was when he was mobilized for the war that he found himself in a neurological unit and was able to in the behavior of wildlife. An active member of several fish and game clubs in the north east, including the Camp Fire Club of America and the Anglers Club of New York City, he spent count- less hours studying the art of fly-fishing and participating in outdoor events with these organizations.

Probably his greatest attribute was an insatiable curiosity and the desire to develop new ideas.

This enthusiasm was transferred to the residents he trained, who respected him not only as their teacher, but as a person who supported and cared about their future careers. Dr. Thompson was sur- vived by his wife Carolyn and their three children.

study the long-term effects of severe nerve injury.

He gave the first account of paroxysmal hyper- tension due to phaeochromocytoma.

During the Second World War he had to leave the hospital; his family were interned, and one son was executed by the Gestapo because the family had helped to run an escape route.

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Who’s Who in Orthopedics

career flourished and included later appointment to the chairs of surgery at the universities of Bonn and Leipzig. He was an important leader in German surgery during the last half of the nine- teenth century. He was the founder of the German Society of Surgeons and became its president.

Trendelenburg was a practical surgeon of wide experience. He popularized what has become known as the Trendelenburg position as an aid to performing pelvic and lower abdominal pro- cedures. He raised the possibility of surgically removing pulmonary emboli of large blood clots, although he never performed the operation itself.

He died of carcinoma of the mandible.

make full notes and to write long explanatory letters to doctors. Fortunately, a selection of these letters expressing Trethowan’s views on topical orthopedic conditions (foot anomalies, abnormal- ities of the back, disorders of the knee and bone grafting) has been published in book form by his associates, Lambrinudi and Stamen. Reading these is almost to hear the fervent advocacy or condemnation all over again. It is to be hoped that this remarkably fine little book, containing the views of one of the greatest, if not always the soundest, of teachers will be reproduced.

One recalls his outpatient sessions: there was never a dull moment. His imitations of gaits in various orthopedic conditions can never be for- gotten by any who had the good fortune to be present. He maintained that the object of ortho- pedic surgery could be written on a thumbnail—

function. As an operator he has never been equalled. Indeed, a house surgeon of his once said: “I would insist on Treth (as he was known to all) doing in my operation if Elmslie decided that an operation was necessary.” A disciple of Arbuthnot Lane, he quickly mastered the no- touch technique and applied it to every operation, great and small. His incisions were long, to enable him to see before he cut and to make it unneces- sary to use the sense of touch. He never ligated vessels, maintaining that if a surgeon exposed bone at its most superficial point and stayed close to bone, he was unlikely to cut any vessels of importance.

Bone-grafting was perhaps his special forte. He favored long intramedullary insertion of the graft at one end and a mortise fit to the circumference of the bone at the other. In the writer’s judgment he was a greater technician in this field than Albee, who was not embarrassed by adherence to a no-touch technique!

At conferences he often favored the dramatic touch. Few will ever forget seeing him, during a discussion, probably on foot deformities, spring to his feet brandishing a Thomas’ wrench and exclaiming, “This is a barbarous weapon!” as he threw it to the floor. His good friend Robert Jones was not perturbed and let the remark pass with a kindly smile. Trethowan was a generous friend and a remarkable host. No one enjoyed a party more and he was always the last to leave. Many will recall parties at his Hampstead home where in the billiard room he had installed an enormous organ. An able performer, he would begin to play perhaps at midnight and continue fortissimo well into the early hours of the morning. He was a

Who’s Who in Orthopedics

W.H. TRETHOWAN

1882–1934

W.H. Trethowan was a student of Guy’s Hospital and was appointed its first orthopedic surgeon in 1912. He was one of Robert Jones’ team at Shepherd’s Bush in World War I. After the war, he joined the staffs of the Royal National Orthopedic Hospital and Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children, Carshalton, and quickly established one of the largest private practices in London.

He was a genius; but unfortunately he seldom

committed his ideas to print. Indeed, his only

writings were “The Treatment of Simple Frac-

tures” in Robert Jones’ Textbook of Military

singular clarity and brevity on orthopedics in

Choyce’s System of Surgery. It was his custom to