Lithotomus

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The stone cutter Jan de Doot , 1652

A lithotomus or stone cutter was a medical profession that was practiced well into the 19th century and was often practiced at the same time as an oculist ( star engraver ) and surgeon . His area of ​​activity was the removal of bladder stones .

The formation of bladder stones was a common consequence of previous eating habits. The services of a lithotomus were used to remove the stones that lead to painful colic and prevent urination .

Two different methods were used for this:

  • In childhood, the stone was manually fixed through the anus on the perineum, where it was pulled out by means of an incision.
  • In adults a more complex procedure had to be applied: Over a loud Georg Fischer cut the first time in 1525 de Giovanni Romanis described and published by his pupil Mariano Santo into the urethra below the prostate led the lithotomy his tools into the bladder in order to Grasping the stone and pulling it out through the neck of the bladder. Due to the inexistent hygiene of both the surgeon and the instruments, inflammations with fatal consequences often occurred. Apart from that, the sphincter muscle could be cut through both surgical errors and poor anatomy knowledge of the stone cutter , which led to permanent incontinence .

Since the 19th century, this activity has been carried out entirely by surgeons; little changed in the procedure until the middle of the 20th century, before modern methods of urology were introduced.

Probably the best-known German lithotomus was Johann Andreas Eisenbarth ("Doktor Eisenbarth"); The Swiss surgeon Lenhart Steinmann was famous in Lübeck as early as the middle of the 16th century . The French surgeon Pierre Francou (* around 1500, † around 1580) was considered the best stone cutter in the 16th century. Another well-known Lapidary his time and inventor of a stone tongs to break the bladder stones was the French surgeon Jean Basheilac (1703-1781). An early description of the surgical technique can be found in Georg Bartisch .

A music or stage play "The stone cut" describes this widespread operation in the 17th century.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georg Fischer: Surgery 100 years ago. FCW Vogel, Leipzig 1876, p. 521 f.
  2. ↑ Barbara I. Tshisuaka: Francou, Pierre. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 419 f.
  3. ↑ Barbara I. Tshisuaka: Basheilac, Jean. In: Werner E. Gerabek et al. (Ed.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. 2005, p. 152.
  4. ↑ Starstecher, Steinschneider and doctores medicinae - Ö1 series: Radiodoktor - Medicine and Health, from 7 January 2013