the journal of SICOT. Then he encouraged the board of La Revue to produce an edition in English. He also wrote two autobiographies, one mainly clinical, the other an illuminating book in French written in the style of a good-natured raconteur.1,2
The last few years were clouded by failing strength, which gradually brought a remarkably active life to a peaceful close on October 11, 1989 at Achères-la-Forêt.
References
1. Merle d’Aubigné R (1982) Surfing the wave: fifty years in the growth of French orthopedic surgery.
Clin Orthop 171:3–23
2. Merle d’Aubigné R (1987) Une trace. Paris, Edi- tions de la Table Ronde
He was responsible for the introduction of iodized table salt. His interests were very wide and he made contributions to most branches of surgery.
Grey Turner visited his clinic in 1908 and was vividly struck by his resource and imagination.
86 Who’s Who in Orthopedics
Fritz De QUERVAIN
1868–1940
De Quervain was a most distinguished general surgeon and succeeded Köcher as Professor of Surgery at Berne University. He was born at Sion in the Valais Canton of Switzerland, where his father was pastor. After studying at Berne, he settled as a surgeon in the watch-making district of La Chaux-de-Fonds. After 8 years he returned to the university as reader in surgery under Köcher, becoming involved in the enormous program of clinical and scientific work on goiter.
Jacques-Malthieu DELPECH
1777–1832
Jacques-Malthieu Delpech was born in Toulouse, where he began his medical studies at the age of 12 years under the aegis of Alexis Latrey, the uncle and first teacher of J. Dominique Larrey.6–8 At the age of 15 years he enlisted as a surgical dresser in the French Army, in which he served for 5 years. Returning to his studies, he was awarded a medical degree by the faculty of Montpellier in 1801. He continued his studies in Paris, where he divided his life into two parts: at night he worked to educate himself, and during the day he tutored other students to earn money to live. His particular interests at this time were wound healing and scar tissue. In 1812, as the result of a competitive examination, i.e., con- cours, Delpech was made Professor of Surgery and Chief Surgeon of the Hôpital St. Eloi in Montpellier.
Delpech’s first important publication1 dealt with hospital gangrene, pourriture d’Hôpital, a condition with which he had had substantial expe- rience both in the army and in civilian practice.
He was one of the first surgeons to point out the importance of direct contact with pus, dirty dress-
ings, and unclean hands in the transfer of infec- tion.9 It was his early studies of wound healing and infection that led directly to his next con- tribution, the introduction of subcutaneous tenotomy.
As a result of his study of Scarpa’s classic work on club feet and of his own clinical experience, he concluded that by neutralizing the deforming force of the calf muscles by division of the Achilles tendon, correction could be obtained.
Although open tenotomy had been performed previously, it was Delpech who perfected the sub- cutaneous operation. He performed the procedure for the first time on May 9, 1816.2,3Bouvier, who examined the patient in 1836, observed that he had a very satisfactory result. Delpech did not follow up this first success because of opposition to the operation in Montpellier and Paris. The procedure lay dormant until it was reintroduced by Stromeyer in 1831. Delpech was an innova- tive surgeon with wide interests in addition to orthopedics, as evidenced by his report of a rhinoplasty.4
In 1828, Delpech published De l’orthomor- phie,5 a comprehensive work concerning defor- mities and diseases of bones and joints. These two small volumes and the accompanying atlas volume, with its unique and beautiful illustra- tions, mark the beginning of the modern era of orthopedics.8 The description of the “back school” in Montpellier is but one of its many interesting features. Delpech was influenced strongly by the British physicians Edward H.
Harrison, John S. Shaw, and William Tilleard Ward, who had written about the treatment of back deformities. He had the distinct advantage, however, of being the first to establish the true nature of Pott’s disease, contending that mal du Pott should be called affection tuberculeuse des vertèbres. As a result, he was able to discriminate more or less successfully between tuberculous spondylitis and spinal deformities due to non- tuberculous conditions, e.g., scoliosis and poliomyelitis. It is for this latter group of patients that the institute in Montpellier was founded.
In 1825, Delpech6purchased 31/2acres of land in the countryside outside of Montpellier for the construction of his orthopedic institute. In the institute he proposed to apply, for the first time on a grand scale, exercises and gymnastics in the treatment of spinal deformities. The building contained facilities for housing and caring for patients as well as an enclosed gymnasium. The garden extending beyond the building was a maze
of paths that intersected at various exercise areas.
Emphasis was placed on outdoor activities in the fresh country air. To ensure that the exercises and gymnastics would be performed freely but with proper decorum, Delpech designed special costumes for the young men and women. The exercises consisted primarily of balancing and climbing. Patients remained as residents in the program for 1 or 2 years. Unfortunately, we do not know whether the program achieved its goals.
On October 29, 1832, Delpech7was returning to the institute from the city when he was shot by a deranged patient on whom he had operated for a hydrocele. The bullet passed through his chest, destroying the arch of the aorta, and he died instantly. The coachman, supporting Delpech in his arms, was also fatally shot. The horses galloped off with the carriage and delivered the bodies to the institute. All that remains of Delpech’s institute are the charming lithographs in the atlas, depicting cheerful young people engaged in therapeutic exercises in a sylvan setting.
References
1. Delpech JM (1815) Memoire sur la Complication des Plaies et des Ulceres Connue sous le Nom de Pourriture d’Hôpital. Paris, Mequignon et Marvis 2. Delpech JM (1816) Precis elementaire des maladies
reputees chirurgicales. Paris
3. Delpech JM (1823–1828) Chirurgie clinique de Montpellier, vol 1. Paris, pp 147–231
4. Delpech JM (1824) Rhinoplastic operation per- formed with success at the Hôpital St. Eloi de Montpellier. Lancet 4:123. Reprinted in Plast Reconstr Surg 44:285, 1969
5. Delpech JM (1828) De l’orthomorphie. Paris, Gabon
6. Keith A (1919) Menders of the Maimed. London, Oxford University Press
7. Rochard J (1875) Histoire de la Chirurgie Franpaise au XIX’ Siecle. Paris, 3. B. Bailliere et Fils 8. Valentin B (1961) Geschichte der Orthopaedie.
Stuttgart, Georg Thieme Verlag
9. Wangensteen OH, Wangensteen SD (1978) The Rise of Surgery from Empiric Craft to Scientific Disci- pline. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press
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Who’s Who in Orthopedics
