Franz Kaspar Hesselbach (27 January 1759 – 24 July 1816) was a German surgeon and

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 it ...

who was a native of

Hammelburg Hammelburg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It sits in the district of Bad Kissingen, in Lower Franconia. It lies on the river Franconian Saale, 25 km west of Schweinfurt. Hammelburg is the oldest winegrowing town (''Weinstadt'') in Francon ...

. He was a pupil, and later

Prosector A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and p ...

under

Carl Caspar von Siebold Carl Caspar von Siebold (4 November 1736 – 3 April 1807) was a German surgeon and obstetrician who was a native of Nideggen in the Duchy of Jülich. From 1760 to 1763 he studied medicine in Würzburg, and afterwards furthered his medical educ ...

(1736–1807) at

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

. Later Hesselbach was a lecturer at Würzburg, where one of his students was Konrad Johann Martin Langenbeck (1776–1851). His son, Adam Kaspar Hesselbach (1788–1856) was also a surgeon. As a surgeon, Hesselbach is best known for his work with

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the groin. Groin herni ...

operations. He was the first to describe a handful of anatomical structures, such as the

cribriform fascia The cribriform fascia, fascia cribrosa also Hesselbach's fascia is the portion of fascia covering the saphenous opening in the thigh. It is perforated by the great saphenous vein and by numerous blood and lymphatic vessels. (A structure in anatom ...

(Hesselbach's fascia), interfoveolar ligament (Hesselbach's ligament) and the

inguinal triangle In human anatomy, the inguinal triangle is a region of the abdominal wall. It is also known by the eponym Hesselbach's triangle, after Franz Kaspar Hesselbach. Structure It is defined by the following structures: * Medial border: Lateral margi ...

(Hesselbach's triangle).

Selected writings

* ''Anatomisch-chirurgische Abhandlung über den Ursprung der Leistenbrüche''. Würzburg, Baumgärtner, 1806. (Hesselbach's fascia, ligament and triangle described). * ''Neueste anatomisch-pathologische Untersuchungen über den Ursprung und das Fortschreiten der Leisten- und Schenkelbrüche''. Würzburg, Staheliano, 1814. (Latest anatomic-pathologic investigations involving the origin and progress of inguinal and femoral ruptures).

References

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''Franz Kaspar Hesselbach''
@

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 bibliograp ...

1759 births 1816 deaths People from Bad Kissingen (district) German surgeons {{Germany-med-bio-stub