Abstract
Background: Recently, renewed attention has been paid in the literature to nailing of calcaneal fractures. The aim of this article is to shed a light on this special aspect of the history of operative treatment of these severe injuries.
Methods: In 1882, Carl Gussenbauer published a case of nailing of an avulsion fracture of the calcaneal tuberosity. A displaced fracture of this type was sustained by a 49-year old man as a result of a fall.
Two days later, Gussenbauer performed closed reduction by using a bone hook and subsequent percutaneous fixation of the fragment by a nail. The nail was removed six weeks later.
The patient reportedly healed without complications and with full restoration of foot function. Conclusions: Carl Ignaz Gussenbauer (1842-1903), a pupil of Theodor Billroth, was one of the outstanding personalities in the field of surgery in the 2nd half of 19th century.
He became famous for using an artificial external replacement of the larynx after laryngectomy and for surgery of the pancreas. From 1878 to 1894, he was Head of the Department of Surgery of the German Faculty of Medicine in Prague.
In Prague, he was appointed Dean of the Medical Faculty of the German Charles-Ferdinand University for the period of 1881/1882 and subsequently Rector of this University in 1882/1883. In 1894, he returned to Vienna where he replaced his teacher Billroth as Head of 2nd Department of Surgery.
His reputation can be illustrated by the fact that in 1894 he chaired as the first foreigner the Congress of the German Surgical Society in Berlin. In 1902/1903 he held the post of Rector of the University in Vienna.