3w - 54. Österreichischer Chirurgenkongress

Geschichte der Chirurgie in Österreich
Also the Innsbruck University has a long list of famous surgeons. For example Eduard Albert, later
the surgical head in Vienna. He was one of the first who introduced Lister´s method of antisepsis.
Additionally Viktor von Hacker, who was an important pioneer for the development of the
esophagoscopy and esophageal dilation. And everyone knows Hermann Schloffer in context
with the three stage operation on the large bowel and the Schloffer-tumor. His successor was
Hans v. Haberer, a famous stomach surgeon. He was a pupil of Eiselsberg in Vienna and became
the head of the surgical department in Innsbruck in the year 1911. He did a lot of scientific
work. He was therefore offered the chair of professorship at two universities in Germany. After
him Egon Ranzi – previously mentioned - spent some years in Innsbruck before he returned to
Vienna.
An outstanding person in every respect was Burghardt Breitner, well known from the surgical
manual. As a soldier in the first world war he was taken prisoner by the Russians for some years.
He used all his strength for his comrades and was therefore called the angel of Sibiria. He had
a broad surgical repertory, he played a leading role for the founding of the Red Cross and
furthermore he was the author of some plays and stories of his travels. He was the head of the
surgical department in Innsbruck until the year 1953.
In summery, how can we assess that time: the second medical school of Vienna from the
second half of the 19th Century to the first third of the 20th Century? It’s results were initiated
and influenced by outstanding and charismatic persons. They helped to achieve worldwide
reputation for the Austrian surgery. Even wars were not able to interrupt the medical and
surgical development. In contrast to the following years when the disastrous situation began
with the takeover by the National Socialists in 1938. The dark chapter of the Austrian Surgery
began. The horrible occurrences are well known and still the subject for historical political
and psychological work. The tragic importance of this dramatic time for medicine and surgery
mainly was the loss of Jewish doctors and scientists. The contribution of Jewish doctors to the
advancement of German and Austrian medicine and even surgery in the 19th and 20th Century
was enormous. In the book of Siegfried Kaznelson entitled „The Jewish in the German culture“
400 famous names are listed, persons like Henle, Auerbach, Edinger, Herxheimer, Wassermann,
Kaposi, Ehrlich and many others.
This tragic bloodshed set German and Austrian medicine back centuries. On the other hand the
surgery in the United States, already at that time of the highest standard, received additional
impulse, which is still being felt now.
According to my endocrinological interest I want to illustrate that time with the following
person, namely Felix Mandl. The function of the parathyroid glands for
the calcium-metabolism remained unclear until the year 1926. Inspired
by some experiments and clinical observations Felix Mandl was, as
previously mentioned the very first surgeon who removed an enlarged
parathyroid gland. His patient suffered from Ostitis fibrosa generalisata
and was healed by the operation for some years. Felix Mandl was dealing
intensively with problems on this topic: postoperative hypocalcemia,
ectopic glands and recurrence. And he formulated surgical guidelines
which were standard until modern times.
His recommendations were to identify all parathyroid glands, to classify
their size and form and to avoid damage to the neighbouring structures
and permanent hypocalcemia. With his work Felix Mandl earned
worldwide reputation. In 1938 Felix Mandl left Austria. From 1939 to 1947 he was professor
at the Hadassah University in Jerusalem. He was one of a few who returned. Back in Vienna
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