Baron Guillaume Dupuytren (; 5 October 1777 – 8 February 1835) was a French
anatomist
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...
and military
surgeon
In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...
. Although he gained much esteem for treating
Napoleon Bonaparte's hemorrhoids
Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''hemo ...
, he is best known today for his description of
Dupuytren's contracture
Dupuytren's contracture (also called Dupuytren's disease, Morbus Dupuytren, Viking disease, palmar fibromatosis and Celtic hand) is a condition in which one or more fingers become progressively bent in a flexed position. It is named after Guilla ...
which is named after him and on which he first operated in 1831 and published—in ''
The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'', in 1834.
Birth and education
Guillaume Dupuytren was born in the town of
Pierre-Buffière
Pierre-Buffière (; oc, Peira Bufiera) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France. Inhabitants are known as ''Pierre-Buffiérois''.
Geography
The village lies on the left bank of the Brian ...
in the present-day department of
Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne (; oc, Nauta Vinhana, ; English: Upper Vienne) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve departments that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitai ...
.
He studied
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
in Paris at the newly established École de Médecine and was appointed prosector, by competition, when only eighteen years of age. His early studies were directed chiefly to anatomical
pathology
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...
. In 1803 he was appointed assistant surgeon at the
Hôtel-Dieu In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu ( en, hostel of God) was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris b ...
and in 1811 he became professor of operative
surgery
Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...
in succession to
Raphael Bienvenu Sabatier. In 1816 he was appointed to the Read chair of clinical surgery and became head surgeon at general the Hôtel-Dieu. He held this post until his death. He is buried in the
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figures ...
.
Practice
He visited the Hôtel-Dieu morning and evening, performing at each time several operations, lectured to vast throngs of students, gave advice to his outpatients, and fulfilled the duties consequent upon one of the largest practices of modern times. By his indefatigable activity he amassed a fortune, the bulk of which he bequeathed to his daughter, with the deduction of considerable sums for the endowment of the anatomical chair in the École de Médecine, and the establishment of a benevolent institution for distressed physicians. The most important of Dupuytren's writings is his ''Treatise on Artificial Anus'', in which he applied the principles laid down by
John Hunter. In his operations he was remarkable for his skill and dexterity, and for his great readiness of resource.
Dupuytren was one of the first surgeons to successfully drain a
brain abscess
Brain abscess (or cerebral abscess) is an abscess caused by inflammation and collection of infected material, coming from local (ear infection, dental abscess, infection of paranasal sinuses, infection of the mastoid air cells of the temporal bone ...
using
trepanation
Trepanning, also known as trepanation, trephination, trephining or making a burr hole (the verb ''trepan'' derives from Old French from Medieval Latin from Greek , literally "borer, auger"), is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drille ...
, in which a hole is cut in the skull, and he also used the method to treat
seizure
An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...
s.
He claimed credit for originally describing melanoma and claimed Laennec stole the idea from his lectures.
He reported a case of breast cancer
spontaneous remission
Spontaneous remission, also called spontaneous healing or spontaneous regression, is an unexpected improvement or cure from a disease that usually progresses. These terms are commonly used for unexpected transient or final improvements in cancer. S ...
in which, after the patient refused surgery, the tumor becoming enlarged, rupturing and getting infected, it began shrinking and disappeared after a few weeks.
He died in Paris, and there with his bequest established the
Musée Dupuytren
The Musée Dupuytren was a museum of wax anatomical items and specimens illustrating diseases and malformations. It was located at the Cordeliers Convent building, 15, rue de l'Ecole de Médecine, Les Cordeliers, Paris, France, and is part of the ...
.
He was a brilliant teacher, an astute diagnostician and a gifted surgeon. On the other hand, he was extremely critical of students and colleagues who failed to live up to his exacting professional standards. This, along with his desire to be the best of the best won him numerous critics, not all of them objective. He was described by such colourful epithets as 'The Brigand of Hôtel-Dieu' by
Jacques Lisfranc and 'First among surgeons, least among men' by
Pierre-François Percy.
In fiction
*The surgeon Desplein, in
Balzac's short story "The Atheist's Mass," is based on Dupuytren.
*Dupuytren's success at draining a cerebral abscess is referred to in
Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...
's ''
Madame Bovary
''Madame Bovary'' (; ), originally published as ''Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners'' ( ), is a novel by France, French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities ...
'': "not Dupuytren, about to open up an abscess through a thick encephalic layer" (Part Two, Chapter 11).
*Reference is made in
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
's ''
Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...
'': “Dupuytren and Recamier entered into a quarrel in the amphitheatre of the School of Medicine, and threatened each other with their fists on the subject of the divinity of Jesus Christ.”
[Excerpt From: Hugo, Victor. “Les Misérables.” Bookbyte Digital. iBooks.]
* In
Diana Gabaldon
Diana J. Gabaldon (; born January 11, 1952) is an American author, known for the ''Outlander'' series of novels. Her books merge multiple genres, featuring elements of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure and science fiction/fantasy. ...
's fifth book of the Outlander series, ''The Fiery Cross'', pages 1227-1229, Claire balances her future knowledge with current medical notes since the Baron Dupuytren has yet to be born.
*
Stephen Maturin
Stephen Maturin () is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series portrays his career as a physician, naturalist and spy in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and the long pursuit of hi ...
of the
Aubrey–Maturin series
The Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of nautical historical novels—20 completed and one unfinished—by English author Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centring on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the Roy ...
received some of his medical training in Paris, conceding to have "dissected with
Dupuytren
Baron Guillaume Dupuytren (; 5 October 1777 – 8 February 1835) was a French anatomist and military surgeon. Although he gained much esteem for treating Napoleon Bonaparte's hemorrhoids, he is best known today for his description of Dupuytren' ...
" while there.
References
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External links
Catholic Encyclopedia article WhoNamedIt.
History of Surgeons – surgeons.org.uk
On the injuries and diseases of bones by Guillaume Dupuytren(1847)
Lesions of the Vascular System, Diseases of the Rectum, and other surgical complaints by Guillaume Dupuytren(1854)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dupuytren, Guillaume
1777 births
1835 deaths
People from Haute-Vienne
French surgeons
French anatomists
19th-century French physicians
18th-century French physicians
French pathologists
French military doctors
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery