Erich Mühe (23 May 1938 – 20 November 2005) was a German surgeon known for performing the first laparoscopic

cholecystectomy Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. Cholecystectomy is a common treatment of symptomatic gallstones and other gallbladder conditions. In 2011, cholecystectomy was the eighth most common operating room procedure performed i ...

in 1985.

Biography

Erich Mühe completed medical school in 1966 and finished his surgical training at the University of Erlangen in 1973. He moved to

Böblingen Böblingen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Beblenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen (district), Böblingen District. Sindelfingen and Böblingen are Geographic contiguity, contiguous. History Böblingen was found ...

in 1982 to take a position as the head of surgery in a local hospital.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Inspired by

Kurt Semm Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and i ...

's pioneering use of laparoscopy, a minimally invasive surgical technique, Mühe designed his own surgical laparoscope, which he called the "Galloscope", in 1984. He first used it to remove a gallbladder (in a procedure known as

) on September 12, 1985, marking the world's first laparoscopic cholecystectomy. He first presented his work in April 1986 at the Congress of the

German Society of Surgery The German Society of Surgery (german: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chirurgie) is a German medical organization. It was founded in 1872 and is one of the oldest medical-scientific learned societies. It is headquartered in Berlin and is headed by pre ...

, after performing 94 successful surgeries using his technique. He gave two further lectures on his technique in 1986 and 1987, but his surgical colleagues disapproved of the technique, regarding it as dangerous and describing it as "

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

surgery". In 1987, when one of Mühe's patients died from complications related to the surgery, Mühe faced charges of manslaughter. He was cleared of the charges in 1990, by which time laparoscopic cholecystectomy was being performed widely across North America; Mühe was only recognised years later as the first to perform the surgery. The achievement has also been credited to two French surgeons: Phillipe Mouret, who first performed the surgery in 1987; and Francois Dubois, who did the same in 1988. In 1992, the German Society of Surgery—which had initially rejected Mühe's work—awarded him its top honour, the Anniversary Award. The following year, the president of the society's 1986 congress apologised to Mühe, describing his work as "without a doubt one of the greatest original achievements of German medicine in recent history". The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons formally recognised Mühe as the first surgeon to perform a laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhe, Erich 1938 births 2005 deaths German surgeons University of Erlangen-Nuremberg alumni 20th-century surgeons