Richard von Volkmann 1930-1889

Abstract

Volkmann was born August 17, 1830, at Leipzig, the son of a professor of anatomy and physiology at the University of Halle. With this family background, it is not surprising that he embarked on a medical career. All his life was associated with the University at which his father taught. In 1856, he was appointed deputy to the surgical clinic of Professor Blasius and, in 1867, he achieved the Chair in Surgery. After a time in military service during the Franco-Prussian War, he returned to his own hospital to confront the ravages of sepsis, having been familiar with Lister's work (Dis Colon Rectum 1982;25:173–178). He was so successful in applying the Listerian method that it was to Volkmann's unit that surgeons came from throughout the world to learn his methods. Lister's concepts were received most enthusiastically in Germany. Volkmann's primary interests were in orthopedics and in general surgery. He emphasized the importance of open drainage and widening of wounds, and made other contributions to the management of hydatid cyst of the liver, intra-abdominal abscess, ulcer disease, tuberculous arthritis, joint dislocation, and compound fractures. His improved operation for excision of the rectum (the subject for this Classics presentation) is less familiar to surgeons than that of his pupil, Kraske (Dis Colon Rectum 1984;27:499–503). His name is recognized primarily because of his description of the esoteric entity of the pathophysiology of ischemic muscle contracture. Volkmann was a striking figure, with long “dundreary” whiskers. He was truly aristocratic in appearance. Besides being a master surgeon with an enormous private practice, he was a superb orator. He could lecture fluently in several languages, including Latin. He was also well-recognized and extremely popular throughout Germany as a published writer of poems and fairy tales for children. A visitor to the clinic that he designed commented in 1879 that the most striking feature was the terrazzo paving, constructed in such a manner as to permit efficient drainage. This was extremely important, since flushing the wounds with carbolic solution from gardening pots was always employed during the procedure. Sepsis was so pervasive a problem that it was routine to perform three or four excisions of the hip joint in children each week. Wolkman died of pneumonia on November 28, 1889, while accompanying a patient for a consultation to Jena, in what is now East Germany.