William DARRACH1876–1948

Who’s Who in Orthopedics On the basis of this work, he can be considered to be one of the originators of the technique of compression plating.

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William DARRACH

1876–1948

Dr. William Darrach was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, the son of William and Edith Romeyn Aertson Darrach. He attended Hill School and was graduated from Yale University in 1897. Following his graduation from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1901, he served an internship at the Presbyterian Hospital.

From 1903 to 1909, he served as demonstrator in the Department of Anatomy. In 1913, he was appointed Associate Attending Surgeon at the Presbyterian Hospital, and continued to serve there in varying capacities until his death.

During World War I, Dr. Darrach went overseas with Base Hospital 2, serving as Chief of Surgi- cal Service, later as Consulting Surgeon for the First Army, and, still later, for the Third Army. He was discharged, after serving with distinction, with the rank of Colonel.

In World War II, Dr. Darrach served as Civil- ian Consultant to the Surgeon General. His final service to the government was in the post of Director of Education and Research at the Kingsbridge Veterans Administration Hospital.

Between the wars, Dr. Darrach served for 11 years as Dean of the College of Physicians

Robert DANIS

1880–1962

Robert Danis was born in a small town in the Belgian province of Tournai. His father was an army veterinarian. After classical studies at Anvers and Louvain, he studied medicine at the University of Brussels, from which he received his degree in 1904. He became associated with Antoine Depage and moved up through the system, becoming professor of operative surgery and gynecology in 1919 and succeeding his chief as professor of clinical surgery in 1925. He was a surgeon with very broad interests.

He made significant contributions to the field of local and regional anesthesia, especially sacral blocks. His interest in vascular surgery led to the invention of a clamp to be used for portocaval shunts. He studied the use of vein grafts to recon- struct defects in arteries and bile ducts. Beginning in 1925, his work gradually focused on trauma- tology and especially on the operative treatment of fractures.

Danis pursued his interest in the laboratory as

well as the clinic. He studied the biology of frac-

ture healing and demonstrated that primary union

(soudure autogene) of fractures could occur

without callus formation when the fracture frag-

ments were reduced accurately and held in

position with compression. To obtain these

conditions, he designed a complete armamen-

tarium of compression plates (coapteurs) and

screws. The results of his clinical and laboratory

experience were embodied in his book Theorie et

pratique de l’osteosynthese, published in 1949.