George S. Phalen (2 December 1911,

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

– 14 April 1998,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

hand surgeon Hand surgery deals with both surgical and non-surgical treatment of conditions and problems that may take place in the hand or upper extremity (commonly from the tip of the hand to the shoulder)Hand surgery is extremely difficult, ranking last o ...

remembered for his work on

carpal tunnel syndrome Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the collection of symptoms and signs associated with median neuropathy at the carpal tunnel. Most CTS is related to idiopathic compression of the median nerve as it travels through the wrist at the carpal tunn ...

including his description of

Phalen's maneuver Phalen's maneuver is a diagnostic test for carpal tunnel syndrome by an American orthopedist named George S. Phalen. Technique The patient is asked to hold their wrists in complete and forced flexion (pushing the dorsal surfaces of both han ...

Biography

George Phalen graduated from

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. The ...

in 1932, and gained his

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1937. He undertook his

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

at the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

before joining the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1942. He was a

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and chief of

orthopedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

at the

O'Reilly General Hospital O'Reilly General Hospital was an army hospital created by the U.S. Government in February 1941. It was built in Springfield, Missouri to provide long-term medical care for returning soldiers of World War II. It became known as "The hospital with a ...

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

, an Army hand center, and then chief of hand surgery at the

William Beaumont Army Medical Center William Beaumont Army Medical Center is a Department of Defense medical facility located in Fort Bliss, Texas. It provides comprehensive care to all beneficiaries including active duty military, their family members, and retirees. The hospital i ...

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he worked at the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

, becoming chief of hand surgery. He helped to found the

American Society for Surgery of the Hand The American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) was founded in 1946 to facilitate the exchange of information related to problems of the hand. It is the oldest and largest medical specialty society in the United States devoted to the care of t ...

in 1946, and was president during the 1960s. He was also president of the

Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons ''Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal. It was established in 1953 as ''Clinical Orthopaedics'' by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons as an alternative to the ''Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery ...

in 1965. He moved to the Dallas Medical and Surgical Clinic in 1970, remaining there until his retirement in 1980. He described the carpal tunnel syndrome in 1950, and although it had been described previously by

James Paget Sir James Paget, 1st Baronet FRS HFRSE (11 January 1814 – 30 December 1899) (, rhymes with "gadget") was an English surgeon and pathologist who is best remembered for naming Paget's disease and who is considered, together with Rudolf Virch ...

in 1854 and James Jackson Putman in 1880, amongst others, Phalen improved the understanding of the

aetiology Etiology (pronounced ; alternatively: aetiology or ætiology) is the study of causation or origination. The word is derived from the Greek (''aitiología'') "giving a reason for" (, ''aitía'', "cause"); and ('' -logía''). More completely, e ...

of the condition with his experience of several hundred patients during the 1950s and 1960s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phalen, George S 1911 births 1998 deaths Bradley University alumni Feinberg School of Medicine alumni American orthopedic surgeons People from Peoria, Illinois 20th-century American physicians 20th-century surgeons