Hackenbruch, Peter Theodor

Surgeon

born: 19.05.1865 in Andernach

died: 15.05.1924 in Wiesbaden

Hackenbruch studied medicine in Bonn, where he received his doctorate in 1888. After working as an assistant to the surgeon Friedrich Trendelenburg (1844-1924), he settled in Wiesbaden in 1892. In 1900, he succeeded Friedrich Cramer as head physician at the surgical department of St. Josef Hospital. His surgical successes made him famous far beyond the borders of Germany. The instruments he invented for performing operations quickly became commonplace in surgery. His treatment of bone fractures with distraction clamps proved to be indispensable for gunshot wounds during the First World War ("Hackenbruch's distraction clamps").

Hackenbruch published numerous works in all areas of surgery and made a name for himself in the training of the young local anesthesia ("Hackenbruch's method of regional anesthesia"). His most important publications were "Örtliche Schmerzlosigkeit bei Operationen" (1897), "Die Schmerzverhütung in der Chirurgie" (1906) and "Die Behandlung der Knochenbrüche mit Distraktionsklammern" (1919).