Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with April 10.

Events

1939 – William Thomas Lemmon (1896-1974) administered the first continuous spinal anaesthetic in a human, leaving a malleable spinal needle in situ to allow fractionated intrathecal dosing.

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Births

1898 – Leon Ginzburg (1898-1988), American surgeon and gastroenterologist; provided early description of granulomatous ileal disease Crohn’s disease (1925)

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Deaths

1949 – Adolf Wallenberg (1862-1949), German neurologist; described Wallenberg Syndrome (1894), and the Wallenberg Tract (1896)

1970 – Claus Bang (1924-1970), Danish physician; inventor of the Bang respirator (1952)

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Further reading

• Lemmon WT. A method for continuous spinal anesthesia: A preliminary report. Ann Surg. 1940 Jan;111(1):141-4
• Lemmon WT. Continuous spinal anesthesia in abdominal and thoracic surgery. Del State Med J. 1947 Jun;19(6):109-15.