Scientists

1. AbhishekAnantVahile. Grp - 119
Sir Christian Albert Theodor Billroth
Introduction
His knowledge in field of abdominalsurgeryis what caughtmy attention to make
this report. He was one of the first surgeonsto work on rectal cancer. His most
famousaccomplishmentfirst successful gastrectomy for gastric cancer.
Biography
Billroth was born at Bergen auf Rügen in the Kingdomof Prussia, theson of a
pastor. His father died of tuberculosis when Billroth was five years old. He
attended schoolin Greifswald wherehe obtained his Abitur degree in 1848.
Billroth was an indifferent student, and spentmore time practicing piano than
studying. Torn between a career as a musician or as a physician, he acceded to his
mother's wishes and enrolled himself at the University of Greifswald to study
medicine, but gaveup the whole of his firstterm to the study of music;Professor

2. Wilhelm Baum, however, took him with him to Göttingen, and his medical career
was fixed. He then followed Professor Baumto the University of Göttingen, and
completed his medical doctorate at the Frederick William University of Berlin in
1852. Along with Rudolph Wagner (1805–1864) and Georg Meissner (1829–1905),
Billroth went to Trieste to study the torpedo fish.
RevolutionaryIdeas / Discoveries
From1853 to 1860 Billroth was an assistantin Bernhard von Langenbeck’s
surgicalclinic at the Charité in Berlin.There he was also apprenticed to Carl
Langenbuch. In 1860, Billroth accepted an offer fromthe University of Zurich to
become the Chair of Clinical Surgery, becoming director of the surgicalhospital
and clinic in Zurich. The beginning of his career in Switzerland was unpromising:
during his firstsemester of teaching, he had only ten students, and he himself
said that the income he received fromhis private practice was insufficientto pay
for his morning cup of coffee.His reputation quickly grew however; Billroth had an
infectious personality, attracting both students and surgicaltrainees to his ranks.
He was loved by his students, and was an effective undergraduateas well as
graduate teacher. Students flocked to his lectures, and with the cooperation of
energetic colleagues, he was able to raise the Medical Faculty of Zurich to a
prominent position among German speaking schools in only a few years.
While in Zurich, Billroth published his classic textbook Die allgemeine chirurgische
Pathologie und Therapie (General SurgicalPathology and Therapy) (1863). Atthe
same time he introduced the concept of audits, publishing all results, good and
bad, which automatically resulted in honest discussion on morbidity, mortality,
and techniques – with resultant improvements in patient selection.
He was appointed professor of surgery atthe University of Vienna in 1867, in
succession to Franz Schuh; there, he practiced surgery as chief of the Second
SurgicalClinic at the Allgemeine Krankenhaus (Vienna General Hospital).Though
he laid the foundation of his fame at Zurich, it was in Vienna, a larger and more

3. conspicuous theater, that he established himself as the power that he was in the
surgicalworld.A speech he gavein 1875, protesting influxes of Jewish medical
students, has been counted as one of the first events in the development of
Viennese political anti-Semitism.
He did not limit himself to surgery only, and conducted extensive research on an
ailment that affected many surgery patients at the time: wound fever.His treatise
on wound fever, Untersuchungen über die Vegetationsformen von Coccobacteria
septica (1874; “Investigations of theVegetal Forms of Coccobacteria septica”)
concluded that the causewas bacterial; Billroth was quick to useantiseptic
techniques in his surgicalpractice, and the number of surgicalpatients afflicted
with wound fever greatly decreased. With the threat of fatal surgicalinfections
lessened through his work and others’, Billroth proceeded to turn his attention to
surgery and the pioneering field of altering or removing organs that had
previously been considered inaccessible.
Billroth's literary activity was widespread, with the total number of published
books and papers of which he was the author numbering about one hundred and
forty. He collaborated with Franz von Pitha on a Textbook of General and Special
Surgery (1882). To this, Billroth contributed the section on Scrofulosis and
Tuberculosis, Injuries and Diseases of the Breast, Instruments and Operations,
Burns, Frostbites, etc.
Billroth passed his restless intellectual spiritto numerous distinguished students,
creating the "Billroth School" of followers. No aspect of his profession seemed to
escape his intense scrutiny, beit research, teaching, administration, or nursing.
He not only had something valuable to say abouteach but often saw to it that his
ideas became concrete reality. In all the spheres he soughtto influence, he was

4. guided by a belief in the unity of science and art, and by confidence in his own
ability to effect change.
Billroth was instrumentalin establishing the firstmodern schoolof thought in
surgery. Hehad radicalideas on surgicaltraining, advocating a prolonged surgical
apprenticeship on completion of medical studies consisting of preliminary work in
hospitals followed by performing operations on cadavers and experimental
animals.This would be followed by a 2-3 year assistantship in a surgical
department with studies of the surgicalliterature and the acquisition of advanced
practical skills. Among his disciples were the notable surgeons Alexander von
Winiwarter, Jan Mikulicz-Radeckiand John B. Murphy. William Halsted's pioneer
surgicalresidency programwas greatly influenced by Billroth's own methods of
surgicaleducation.
Conclusion
At the end , I would like to say that Sir Christian Albert Theodor Billroth was an
extremely diligent and dedicated person in his respectivefield and had deep
interest in abdominalsurgery .
References
1. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodor-Billroth
2. google.com/search?q=theodore+billroth&oq=theodore+billroth&aqs=chr
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rceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8