Sir John Charnley

Biography

• Born 29 August 1911 Bury, Lancashire
• 1936 – Fellow Royal College of Surgeons, England
• 1937 – Manchester Royal Infirmary
• 1940 – Royal Army Medical Corps – RAMC
• 1947 – Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon, Manchester Royal Infirmary
• 1961 – Wrightington Hospital
• 1970 – CBE and was knighted in 1977
• 1972 – Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Manchester
• 1976 – Lister Orator at the Royal College of Surgeons of England
• Died 5 August 1982

Medical Eponyms

Charnley hip prosthesis (1950)

Low frictional torque arthroplasty. Charnley recognized that high forces exerted on a hip implant contributed to loosening over time. He found that a stainless steel ball on polytetrafluoroethylene had a coefficient of friction similar to the normal joint. In addition he reduced the femoral head size from 40 mm (Moore type) to 22 mm in order to further reduce the frictional force.

Associated persons

• Marius Nygaard Smith-Petersen (1886-1953) [Smith-Petersen mould arthroplasty, 1923]
• Austin Talley Moore (1899–1963) [Austin Moore hip prosthesis, 1942]
• Frederick Roeck Thompson (1907–1983) [Thompson Vitallium Hip Prosthesis, 1950]
• John Charnley (1911-1982) [Moore hip prosthesis, 1950]

Major Publications

• Charnley J. The Closed Treatment of Common Fractures. Cambridge University Press. 1950
• Charnley J. Orthopaedic signs in the diagnosis of disc protrusion. With special reference to the straight-leg-raising test. Lancet. 1951 Jan 27;1(6648):186-92. [PMID 14795816]
• Charnley J et al. Symposium The Use of Metal in Bone Surgery. Proc R Soc Med. 1957 Oct; 50(10): 837–846. [PMC1889900]
• Charnley J. Low Friction Arthroplasty of the Hip. Theory and Practice. Springer. 1979

References

• Biography: Charnley, Sir John (1911 – 1982). Plarr’s Lives of the Fellows Online. Royal College of Surgeons of England.
• Waugh W. John Charnley – The Man and the Hip. Springer 1990
• Jackson J. Father of the modern hip replacement: Professor Sir John Charnley (1911-82). J Med Biogr. 2011 Nov;19(4):151-6. [PMID 22319187]
• Nisbet NW, Woodruff M. John Charnley: 29 August 1911-5 August 1982. Biogr Mem Fellows R Soc. 1984;30:119-37. [PMID 11616002]
• AAOS. One Hip Doctor
• Mostofi SB. Who’s Who in Orthopedics. Springer; 2005: 60-62.
• Caton J, Prudhon JL. Over 25 years survival after Charnley’s total hip arthroplasty. Int Orthop. 2011 Feb;35(2):185-8. [PMC3032109]
• Parcells B. History of THA. Hip & Knee Book. 2017