Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov
Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov (Никола́й Ива́нович Пирого́в) (1810-1881) was a Russian surgeon, anesthetist and anatomist.
Pirogov, arguably the greatest of all Russian military surgeons and one of the most important figures in the medical history of Russia. Pirogov revolutionized world medicine through his introduction of a triage system to prioritize treatment to the wounded; his demonstration of the efficacy of anesthesia in trauma surgery; the first use of rectal ether; his promotion of conservation in limb amputation; and his introduction of the true profession of nursing in the field.
Key role in the development of anaesthesia in Russia, in 1847 with the Scottish surgeon James Syme (1799-1870), Pirogov was the first in Europe to adopt ether anaesthesia.
Biography
- Born on November 25, 1810, in Moscow
- 1824-1828 Studied medicine at the University of Moscow
- 1828-1831 Training in the professorship institute in Dorpat
- 1833-1835 Perfection of Medical Studies in Berlin and Göttingen
- 1837 – Professor of Theoretical and Practical Surgery at the University of Dorpat
- 1838 – Research stay in Paris (February – June). Visit to the clinics of Velpeau; Lisfranc and Dupuytren
- 1840 – Full Professor of Surgery at the Medico-Surgical Academy of St. Petersburg
- 1841-1856 Professor of Hospital Surgery, Pathological and Surgical Anatomy at the Medico-Surgical Academy of St. Petersburg and Head of the Surgical Department 2nd Military Hospital
- 1850 – Consular Surgeon at Maksimilian Hospital and St. Petersburg Children’s Hospital
- 1856-1858 Curator of the Odessa Lehrbezirk
- Died on December 5, 1881 in Višnja, Podol’sk Governorate (now Vinnycja, Ukraine)
The greatest of Russian surgeons, and one of the greatest military surgeons of all time, was Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogoff..
Colonel Dr. Fielding Hudson Garrison, 1929
Medical Eponyms
Pirogov amputation (1854)
Amputation of the ankle joint in which the posterior process of the calcaneus is retained in the skin flap and opposes the distal cut of the tibia.
Other eponyms
- Pirogov mask and apparatus for inhalation of ether
- Pirogov angle – angle formed by junction of the internal jugular and subclavian veins
- Pirogov Glacier in Antarctica;
- Pirogov Hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria,
- 2506 Pirogov asteroid (1976);
- Pirogov Gold Medal (Soviet Union humanitarian prize)
Controversies
- Russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Пирого́в. German: ‘Nikolai Iwanowitsch Pirogow‘. Anglicised transcription ‘Pirogov for the Russian surname ‘Пирогов‘. Alternate transcriptions include ‘Pirogoff’ and ‘Pirogow’. German: ‘Nikolai Iwanowitsch Pirogow‘.
- His body is preserved using embalming techniques he himself developed shortly before his death and rests in the village church in Vinnytsia
Major Publications
- Pirogov NI. Nouveau procédé pour produire, au moyen de la vapeur d’éther, l’insensibilité chez les individus soumis à des opérations chirurgicales. Comptes rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris. 1847;24:789-91.
- Pirogov NI. Effets des vapeurs éthérées administrées par le rectum. Comptes rendus de l’Académie des Sciences. 1847;24:1110.
- Pirogov NI. Recherches pratiques et physiologiques sur l’éthérisation. St. Pétersbourg, Imprimerie Française, 1847.
- Pirogov NI. Osteoplastische Verlängerung der Unterschenkelknochen bei der Exarticulation des Fusses. Leipzig, 1854. [Pirogov amputation]
- Pirogov NI. Klinische Chirurgie: eine Sammlung von Monographien über die wichtigsten Gegenstände der praktischen Chirurgie. 1854
- Pirogov NI. Grundzüge der allgemeinen Kriegschirurgie: Nach Reminiscenzen aus den Kriegen in der Krim und im Kaukasus und aus der Hospitalpraxis. 1864
- Pirogov NI. Questions of Life. Diary of an old physician: written exclusively for himself, but not without a second thought, that may be somewhere somebody will read it also. 5 November 1879 – 22 October 1881 [In Russian and English].
References
Biography
- Garrison HF. Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov. In: Introduction to the History of Medicine. 1917: 523-524
- Pirogov (Пирогов): Soviet biopic film (1947) directed by Grigori Kozintsev, based on the life of Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov (1810-1881). Dmitry Shostakovich soundtrack [In 1951 – arranged into a 5 movement suite – Op. 76a by Lev Atovmian]
- Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov (1810-1881), Russian master surgeon. JAMA. 1967; 202(7): 648-9.
- Secher O. Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogoff. Anaesthesia. 1986; 41(8): 829-37.
- Hendriks IF, Bovill JG, Boer F, Houwaart ES, Hogendoorn PC. Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov: a surgeon’s contribution to military and civilian anaesthesia. Anaesthesia. 2015; 70(2): 219-27.
- Hendriks IF, Bovill JG, van Luijt PA, Hogendoorn PC. Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov (1810-1881): A pioneering Russian surgeon and medical scientist. J Med Biogr. 2018; 26(1): 10-22.
- ПИРОГОВ, Николай Иванович. Wissenschaftsbeziehungen im 19. Jahrhundert zwischen Deutschland und Russland auf den Gebieten Chemie, Pharmazie und Medizin
- Fresquet JL. Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov. Historia de la Medicina
Eponymous terms
- Garrè C, Borchard A. Amputation und Exartikulationen. Lehrbuch der Chirurgie, 1922: 693-695
- Cadogan M. Eponymythology of foot injuries. LITFL
Russian Emergency Physician