John Nevil Insall (1930–2000) was a pioneering English

orthopaedic 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 ...

surgeon who contributed extensively to the advancement of orthopedic surgery and total

knee replacement Knee replacement, also known as knee arthroplasty, is a surgical procedure to replace the weight-bearing surfaces of the knee joint to relieve pain and disability, most commonly offered when joint pain is not diminished by conservative sources a ...

surgery. Dr. Insall designed four models of widely used systems including the ground breaking Total Condylar Knee in 1974. Dr. Insall was born in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, England to Margaret Insall (nee Allen) and James Insall. He attended

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

, graduating in 1953. He worked as a physician and orthopedic surgeon in England and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

before joining the

Hospital for Special Surgery Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is a hospital in New York City that specializes in orthopedic surgery and the treatment of rheumatologic conditions. Founded in 1863 by James Knight, HSS is the oldest orthopedic hospital in the United States ...

(HSS) in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He founded the Insall Scott Kelly Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine (ISK) after a nearly 30-year career at HSS and the Knee Society. In addition to his pre-eminent knee textbook Surgery of the Knee (Churchill-Livingstone, 1984, 2000), Dr. Insall wrote approximately 150 peer-reviewed articles, 41 book chapters and 5 books. He has also trained over 200 orthopaedic residents and 100 national and international knee fellows throughout his academic career. He died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

on 30 December 2000, at Beth Israel Medical Center in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Dr. Insall is survived by his wife Mary, children John and Amanda, and his grand children John and Emi Insall. His publications include the following: * ''Current concepts in primary and revision total knee arthroplasty'' (Lippincott-Raven, 1996) * ''Surgery of the knee'', Volume 1 (Churchill Livingstone, first edition 1984, second edition 2000) The Insall award was established to honor Dr. Insall's achievements and contributions to orthopaedics. This award recognises outstanding papers concerning clinical results and techniques. The John N. Insall Travelling Fellowship is awarded to four candidates internationally. This allows those individuals to travel to prominent knee surgery centers. The John N. Insall Foundation continues to advance orthopedic surgery.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Insall, John 1930 births 2000 deaths English surgeons British orthopaedic surgeons Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Medical doctors from Bournemouth Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge 20th-century British medical doctors Physicians of Hospital for Special Surgery 20th-century surgeons