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History of proximal femur fractures in the German literature

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Abstract

Introduction

German-speaking surgeons have left a deep imprint on the history of diagnostics and treatment of proximal femur fractures. Some of the studies published in German have fell into oblivion, others are cited until today, although sometimes quite inaccurately. The cause of such inaccuracies are citations from secondary sources due to unavailability of the original or inability to read it because of a language barrier. In the current literature, globally predominated by English articles, the “German history” of treatment of proximal femur fractures remains undervalued. The aim of the present article is to point out its contribution.

Materials and methods

Literature search was performed in original publications and historical sources.

Results

The German-speaking surgeons have considerably contributed to the development of the treatment of proximal femur fractures. The analyzed period between 1847 and 1970 may be divided into three basic periods. In the first period (1847–1896), the German-speaking surgeons (Langenbeck, Trendelenburg, König, Heine, Dolinger) were the first worldwide to start treating the fractures of proximal femur operatively. In the second period (1897–1935), mainly in the 1930s, the initiative in Europe was taken over by surgeons publishing studies in France and in Belgium. Overseas, American surgeons were coming to the forefront. In Germany, only Pauwels developed the first biomechanical classification of femoral neck fractures. In the third period (1936–1970), mainly in the 1940s and 1950s, implants were designed (Pohl, Künstcher), based on close collaboration between German engineers and surgeons, that served as a model for a dynamic hip screw and a proximal femoral nail, which are currently the implants of choice in the treatment of trochanteric fractures.

Conclusion

The historical contribution of German-speaking surgeons to understanding the issue of proximal femur fractures and their operative treatment is far more significant than presented in the historical studies published in English.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Ludmila Bébarová, PhD, for her assistance in the preparation of the manuscript. This article could not have appeared without the extraordinary help in collecting original sources, offered by Ms. Ludmila Frajerová from the Klementinum (Czech National Library) and Ms. Mirka Plecitá from the 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University.

The authors also express their gratitude to Naohiro Hio M.D. Ph.D. from East-Maebashi Orthopaedic Hospital 1302-2 Nishiohmuro, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan, for valuable biographical data of H. Ito and S. Asahara.

Funding

Supported by IP DZRVO MO1012 and by Charles University Cooperatio Project, Morphological Disciplines of Medicine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and the Central Military Hospital, U Vojenské Nemocnice 1200, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Jan Bartoníček

  2. Institute of Anatomy, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, U Nemocnice 3, 128 00, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Jan Bartoníček & Ondřej Naňka

  3. University Center of Orthopaedics, Trauma and Plastic Surgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus at TU Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, E01307, Dresden, Germany

    Stefan Rammelt

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JB: idea for the article, draft of the manuscript

SR: the literature search, critically revised the work

ON: the literature search, critically revised the work

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Correspondence to Ondřej Naňka.

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Bartoníček, J., Rammelt, S. & Naňka, O. History of proximal femur fractures in the German literature. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 48, 1113–1121 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-023-06039-7

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