Friedrich Paul Reichel

Friedrich Paul Reichel (1858-1934) was a German surgeon.

Reichel is best remembered for two enduring eponymous contributions: the Reichel-Polya operation, a modification of the Billroth II gastroenterostomy, and Reichel’s syndrome, an early description of synovial osteochondromatosis. His clinical innovations, especially in gastrointestinal and joint pathology, positioned him as an influential figure in late 19th- and early 20th-century surgery.

Reichel studied medicine at the University of Breslau, completing his state examination summa cum laude in 1881 and receiving his doctorate the following year. He trained under notable surgeons including Hermann Eberhard Fischer in Breslau, Karl Ludwig Ernst Schroeder and Robert von Olshausen in Berlin, and Karl Schönborn in Würzburg. He was habilitated in surgery in 1889 and became a Privatdozent at Würzburg.

In 1896, Reichel returned to Breslau to lead the Silesian Provincial Insurance Institute and soon after took charge of the surgical-gynaecological department at the Stadtkrankenhaus in Chemnitz. By 1908, he was named Professor and Medical Director of all Chemnitz hospitals—a post he held until his death. He declined a surgical chair in Leipzig in 1911, preferring to continue building clinical infrastructure in the rapidly growing industrial city of Chemnitz.

Among his clinical writings, his 1900 paper describing chondromatosis of the knee capsule established the condition now recognised as Reichel’s syndrome. His collaborative work with Hungarian surgeon Eugen Pólya (1876–1944) resulted in the Reichel-Polya modification of the Billroth II procedure—widely adopted in gastric surgery for its improved drainage and technical feasibility.

Biographical Timeline
  • 1858 – Born December 23 in Breslau, Silesia (now Wrocław, Poland).
  • 1876 – Completed secondary education at Maria-Magdalenen-Gymnasium, Breslau.
  • 1881 – Passed state medical examination summa cum laude at the University of Breslau
  • 1882 – Earned doctorate with dissertation on salivary gland morphology in vertebrates
  • 1881–1885 – Surgical assistant to Hermann Eberhard Fischer at the University Surgical Clinic, Breslau.
  • 1885–1888 – Voluntary assistant at the University Women’s Clinic, Berlin, under Friedrich Schroeder and Robert von Olshausen.
  • 1888 – Moved to University Surgical Clinic in Würzburg.
  • 1889 – Habilitated in surgery under Karl Schönborn with a thesis on septic peritonitis; became Privatdozent.
  • 1896 – Appointed medical director of the Silesian Provincial Insurance Institute in Breslau.
  • 1898 – Became senior attending surgeon in the surgical-gynaecological department at Chemnitz city hospital.
  • 1900 – First described synovial osteochondromatosis (Reichel’s syndrome) in Archiv für klinische Chirurgie.
  • 1901 – Conferred the title Königlich-sächsischer Hofrat (Royal Saxon Court Councillor).
  • 1908 – Appointed Professor and Medical Director of all Chemnitz hospitals.
  • 1910 – Presented on flexural sigmoid colon replacement at the German Society of Surgery.
  • 1911 – Declined appointment to the surgical chair in Leipzig.
  • 1917 – Named Geheimer Sanitätsrat (Privy Medical Councillor).
  • 1926 – Elevated to Stadtobermedizinalrat of Chemnitz (Chief Municipal Medical Officer).
  • 1929 – Contributed to the 6th edition of Handbuch der praktischen Chirurgie.
  • 1933 – Co-authored final monograph Die Neubildungen des Darmes.
  • 1934 – Died [exact date unspecified] in Chemnitz, Germany.
Medical Eponyms
Reichel syndrome (1900)

Primary synovial chondromatosis (also known as Reichel syndrome) is a benign monoarticular disorder of unknown origin that is characterized by synovial metaplasia and proliferation resulting in multiple intra-articular cartilaginous loose bodies. Synovial chondromatosis most often occurs in the knee (70%), followed by the hip, elbow, and shoulder. The condition most often occurs in patients between the ages of 30 and 50. Men are affected twice as often as women.

1900 – Reichel published a detailed clinical and pathological account of chondromatose der Kniegelenkskapsel (chondromatosis of the knee joint capsule) in Archiv für klinische Chirurgie. He described the condition as a benign metaplastic process in which cartilaginous nodules form within the synovium, detach, and calcify within the joint.

Over the following decades, American surgeons Hugh Toland Jones (1892-1980) and Melvin Starkey Henderson (1883–1954) published descriptive case series and surgical reviews on the condition. Henderson, in particular, became renowned for his analyses (knee 1916, elbow 1918), and the condition has since been referred to variously as Reichel–Jones–Henderson syndrome or Henderson–Reichel syndrome

Reichel-Polya operation

Reichel is also remembered for his association with the Reichel-Polya modification of the Billroth II procedure, a posterior gastroenterostomy technique that avoids transection of the stomach. This method, developed in collaboration with Hungarian surgeon Eugen Pólya (1876–1944), provided better anatomic alignment for gastric emptying and was particularly suited for subtotal gastrectomy. Though later superseded by other techniques, it remains a milestone in the evolution of gastric surgery.

Major Publications
References

Biography

Eponymous terms

Eponym

the person behind the name

more eponyms…

BA MA (Oxon) MBChB (Edin) FACEM FFSEM. Emergency physician, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Passion for rugby; medical history; medical education; and asynchronous learning #FOAMed evangelist. Co-founder and CTO of Life in the Fast lane | Eponyms | Books |

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