Weitlaner retractor.

Abstract

This hand-held, self-retaining retractor (Fig. 1) can be found in operating theatres around the world; however, its creator has been somewhat forgotten to history. This is particularly noticeable in English-speaking centres, as it is often referred to as the Wheatlander, Weetlaner, or even just ‘Wheatie’, and not by its proper name, the Weitlaner (pronounced VIGHT-lahn-er). Franz Weitlaner (Fig. 2) was born on 17 September 1872, in the town of Welsberg, a German-speaking municipality in the South Tyrol province of northern Italy, in the foothills of the Dolomite mountains, a range that is part of the Alps, and, as of 2009, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Initially studying theology at the Diocesan Seminary, Franz switched from theology to medicine, beginning his studies at the age of 20 years at Innsbruck Medical University. This historic university was inaugurated by the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I on 15 October 1669. Weitlaner obtained his doctorate of medicine from the university in 1898, and, after completing his clinical training in 1902, served as a ship’s surgeon with the Austrian Lloyd Shipping Company, sailing to countries in Asia, and writing on various topics including sea-sickness, syphilis, and plague. Following his nautical adventures, Weitlaner returned to terra firma, marrying a classical pianist named Leopoldine Kraubmann in 1903, and settling in the remote village of Ottenthal, in the northeast of Austria. It was here, where he ran a general practice with no assistants available, where necessity led to the birth of his invention.