Eduard Sonnenburg (3 November 1848, in
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
– 25 May 1915, in
Bad Wildungen
Bad Wildungen is a state-run spa and a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road.
Geography
Location
Bad Wildungen lies in the eastern foothills of the Kellerwald range in the so ...
) was a German surgeon. He was a son-in-law to neurologist
Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal
Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal (23 March 1833, in Berlin – 27 January 1890, in Kreuzlingen) was a German psychiatrist from Berlin. He was the son of Otto Carl Friedrich Westphal (1800–1879) and Karoline Friederike Heine and the father of Alexan ...
.
After receiving his medical doctorate in 1872, he spent several years as an assistant to
Georg Albert Lücke at the surgical clinic in
Strassburg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eur ...
. In 1876 he qualified as a lecturer of surgery at the university. In 1880 he relocated to
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, where he worked under
Bernhard von Langenbeck
Bernhard Rudolf Konrad von Langenbeck (9 November 181029 September 1887) was a German surgeon known as the developer of Langenbeck's amputation and founder of ''Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery''.
Life
He was born at Padingbüttel, and recei ...
and
Ernst von Bergmann
Ernst Gustav Benjamin von Bergmann (16 December 1836 – 25 March 1907) was a Baltic German surgeon. He was the first physician to introduce heat sterilisation of surgical instruments and is known as a pioneer of aseptic surgery.
Biography
B ...
.
In 1883 he became an associate professor at the University of Berlin, and in 1890 was appointed director of the surgical department at the Krankenhaus Moabit. In 1913 he became an honorary full professor at the university.
[Eduard Sonnenburg](_blank)
at Who Named It
''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograph ...
In 1886, he was a founding member of the ''Freie Vereinigung der Chirurgen Berlins'' (Free Association of Berlin Surgeons), an organization known today as the ''Berliner Chirurgische Gesellschaft''. His name is associated with "Sonnenberg's sign", an indicator defined as bloody
leukocytosis
Leukocytosis is a condition in which the white cell (leukocyte count) is above the normal range in the blood. It is frequently a sign of an inflammatory response, most commonly the result of infection, but may also occur following certain parasit ...
seen in
appendicitis
Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...
with localized
peritonitis
Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part or ...
. He standardized
Appendectomy
An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acu ...
, i.e. the surgery removing the vermiform appendix and was invited to perform the surgery for many nobles and royalties in Europe.
Selected works
* ''Verbrennungen und Erfrierungen'', 1879 – Burns and
frostbite
Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the han ...
.
* ''Pathologie und Therapie der Perityphlitis (Appendicitis)'', (1900, 6th edition 1908) – Pathology and therapy of appendicitis.
* ''Compendium der Operations- und Verbandstechnik'' (with Richard Mühsam; 2 volumes, 1903) – Compendium of operations and associated techniques.
HathiTrust Digital Library
(published works)
*''Appendizitis.'' Deutsche Klinik, volume 8; Berlin and Vienna, 1905.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnenburg, Eduard
1848 births
1915 deaths
Physicians from Bremen (city)
Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin
German surgeons