Sir William Macewen( 22nd June 1848 - 22nd
March, 1924): Pioneer Scottish Neurosurgeon. He studied medicine at University
of Glasgow & received medical degree in 1872. After 3 years he joined as
surgeon at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. In 1881 he was appointed lecturer on
Systematic Surgery at the Royal Infirmary School of Medicine. In 1883 he was
appointed as Surgeon to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children
in Glasgow. In 1892 Macewen became Regius Professor
of Surgery at the University of Glasgow (the post which Lister had held when
Macewen was a student).
By following principles of antisepsis of Joseph Lister and adopting systematically the use of scrubbing & sterilization of surgical instruments, use of surgical gowns, and anesthesia Macewen became one of the most innovative surgeons of his time and was able to greatly advance modern surgical techniques.
One of his earliest contributions while at the Royal Infirmary, in 1877, was in orthopaedics, by means of the development of the first bone grafts, but also in knee surgery using a special instrument (Macewen's osteotome) both techniques becoming key treatments for the highly prevalent disease of rickets. He developed surgical treatments for mastoid disease and pyogenic cysts of the temporal bone and has identified an anatomical structure in this bone, the foveola suprameatica, which was named MacEwen's triangle in his honour.
In 1916 Macewen helped to found the Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers in Erskine (now the Erskine Hospital), near Glasgow, which was urgently needed to treat the thousands of military that lost their limbs in the First World War. He helped in designing the Erskine artificial limb.
His method of surgical removal of lungs became a major medical weapon in the treatment of tuberculosis and lung cancer, thus saving many patients. His name was also immortalised in Medicine in two other instances: the Macewen's operation for inguinal hernia and the Macewen's sign for hydrocephalus and brain abscess.
Another important contribution by Macewen to modern surgery was the technique of endotracheal anaesthesia with the help of orotracheal intubation, which he described in 1880, and still in use today.
Macewen was noted for his early and creative use of photographs for documenting patients cases and for teaching surgery and medicine. He illustrated cranial anatomy in in his Atlas of Head Sections. He pioneered the use of photos of body parts and pathological specimens, as well as photos taken before, after surgery. He was knighted in 1902. He was President of the British Medical Association in 1922. He was Honorary Surgeon to the King in Scotland.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2304086/pdf/brmedj05807-0045.pdf
By following principles of antisepsis of Joseph Lister and adopting systematically the use of scrubbing & sterilization of surgical instruments, use of surgical gowns, and anesthesia Macewen became one of the most innovative surgeons of his time and was able to greatly advance modern surgical techniques.
Following the work of John Hughlings Jackson (1835–1911) and
David Ferrier (1843–1924) on
neurological mapping of functions in the brain, Macewen demonstrated in 1876
that it was possible to use a precise clinical examination to determine the
possible site of a tumor
or lesion in the brain, by observing its effects on the side and extension of
alterations in motor and sensory functions. Thus, in 1876 he diagnosed an
abscess in the frontal lobe of a boy, but the family refused permission to
operate. When the patient died his diagnosis and localisation were found to be
correct.
He performed the first successful
intracranial surgery where the site of the lesion (a left frontal meningioma) was localised
solely by the preoperative focal epileptic signs (twitching of
the face and arms in the opposite site of the lesion). A trephined hole in the
skull near the purported site of the lesion showed a big subdural tumor. The
patient, a teenage girl, lived for eight more years, and a subsequent autopsy showed no trace of the
tumor. He later used this many times to successfully operate on brain abscesses (in 1876) and hematomas and on the spine. One of his earliest contributions while at the Royal Infirmary, in 1877, was in orthopaedics, by means of the development of the first bone grafts, but also in knee surgery using a special instrument (Macewen's osteotome) both techniques becoming key treatments for the highly prevalent disease of rickets. He developed surgical treatments for mastoid disease and pyogenic cysts of the temporal bone and has identified an anatomical structure in this bone, the foveola suprameatica, which was named MacEwen's triangle in his honour.
In 1916 Macewen helped to found the Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers in Erskine (now the Erskine Hospital), near Glasgow, which was urgently needed to treat the thousands of military that lost their limbs in the First World War. He helped in designing the Erskine artificial limb.
His method of surgical removal of lungs became a major medical weapon in the treatment of tuberculosis and lung cancer, thus saving many patients. His name was also immortalised in Medicine in two other instances: the Macewen's operation for inguinal hernia and the Macewen's sign for hydrocephalus and brain abscess.
Another important contribution by Macewen to modern surgery was the technique of endotracheal anaesthesia with the help of orotracheal intubation, which he described in 1880, and still in use today.
Macewen was noted for his early and creative use of photographs for documenting patients cases and for teaching surgery and medicine. He illustrated cranial anatomy in in his Atlas of Head Sections. He pioneered the use of photos of body parts and pathological specimens, as well as photos taken before, after surgery. He was knighted in 1902. He was President of the British Medical Association in 1922. He was Honorary Surgeon to the King in Scotland.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Macewen
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