CME INDIA Presentation by ⚜ Dr. M. Gowri Sankar, MD, Senior Assistant Professor, Dept. of General Medicine, Government Medical College and ESI Hospital, Coimbatore.
Today’s History Feature:
Dr. Karl Ferdinand von Graefe
(Mar 8, 1787 – Jul 4, 1840)
💠German Surgeon
💠Father of Modern Plastic Surgery
His contributions…
🔹Graefe had done his medical studies at Halle and Leipzig. He started his career as a Professor of Surgery and then he became the Director of Ophthalmology at Berlin University and served there from 1810 to 1840.
🔹Moreover, he was a pioneer of Plastic & Reconstructive surgery and a founder of German Rhinoplastic surgery.
🔹Dr. Graefe developed his own technique in rhinoplasty by upgrading both the Ancient Indian method of nose repair (Sushruta’s technique) and Italian Surgeon Tagliacozzi’s technique of 16th century.
🔹He also performed a practical operation for treating cleft lip & cleft palate and also pioneered work in eyelid surgery.
🔹Furthermore, he coined the term Blepharoplasty. He was the first who used the word Plasty (Greek word “Plastikos” means to mould or to shape) in the year 1818.
🔹By using the term Rhinoplasty Dr. Graefe had given elegant name to the field as “Plastic surgery” in 1818.
🔹He also pioneered the technical improvement of Blood transfusion by using Graefe’s apparatus.
🔹Finally, he wrote an Encyclopedia – a Dictionary of Medical sciences and founded the first Journal of Surgery and Ophthalmology.
🔹Consequently, his son became the famous Ophthalmologist Dr. Albrecht von Graefe, who has often been credited as Founder of Modern Ophthalmology.
A Day to Commemorate…
A Man of Many Innovations
Dr. Karl Ferdinand von Graefe 🙏🏼
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