Johann Mikulicz-Radecki – one of the founders of modern european surgery

Abstract

Among the pleiad of outstanding luminaries of the surgery of the past, a special place is occupied by surgeons who do not limit themselves to a certain area of their activity but left a wide mark in various fields of medicine. Describes the life course of one of the most significant figures in European and world surgery of the XIX century Polish-German-Austrian surgeon, a student and follower of the ideas of Theodore Billroth – Johann Mikulich-Radetzky, who became a kind of «bridge» between the classic surgery of the XIX century and modern European surgery. Among his scientific interests are: surgery of the gastrointestinal tract, the thyroid gland, thoracic, orthopaedic, plastic surgery – and this is by no means a complete list. Mikulich-Radetsky retained the memory of himself not only as the founder of two surgical schools in Germany and Poland but also as a scientist who was engaged in the development and dissemination of the principles of antisepsis and asepsis: he was the first to use iodoform in practice as a means for treating wounds, and also suggested using thread gloves with outer seam, which changed several times during the operation. In addition, he proposed his method of disinfection the surgeon’s hands before surgery. It is impossible to underestimate the contribution of Johann Mikulich-Radetsky to the surgery of the digestive tract: he is the founder of gastric resections for cancer. In addition, he was the first to successfully suture a perforated gastric ulcer, and also developed a method for plastics of the pyloric part of the stomach, which is still used today. Thus, the scientific ideas of Johann Mikulich-Radetsky received widespread and further development.

Keywords

surgery / medicine / Johann / Mikulich-Radecki / operation / stomach / cancer / antiseptic / clamp / orthopaedics / pyloroplasty / ulcer

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