Joseph-François Malgaigne (14 February 1806 – 17 October 1865) was a French surgeon and medical

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

born in Charmes-sur-Moselle, Vosges. He studied medicine in Paris, and was later a surgeon of Parisian hospitals, including Hôpitals Saint-Louis,

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine; ) is Europe's List of hospitals by capacity, largest university hospital, affiliated with Humboldt University of Berlin, Humboldt University and the Free ...

and Beaujon. At the Hôpital Saint-Louis he was a colleague of Auguste Nélaton (1807–1873). Malgaigne was father-in-law to surgeon Léon Clément Le Fort (1829–1893). In 1846 he became a member of the

Académie de Médecine An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. Malgaigne is known for his work with

bone fractures A bone fracture (abbreviated FRX or Fx, Fx, or #) is a medical condition in which there is a partial or complete break in the continuity of any bone in the body. In more severe cases, the bone may be broken into several fragments, known as a ''c ...

and dislocations, specializing in

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

of the knee,

hip In vertebrate anatomy, the hip, or coxaLatin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) (: ''coxae'') in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint on t ...

and

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder m ...

. In 1834 he published ''Manuel de medecine operatoire'', an influential work on surgical techniques. This book was later translated into several languages. In 1843 Malgaigne, together with Germanicus Mirault designed a flap transposition procedure to close

cleft lip A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate (the roof of the mouth) contains an opening into the nasal cavi ...

s.Mirault G. Deux lettres sur l'operation du bec-delievre. J Chir. 1844;2:257. As an advocate of statistical analysis in medicine, he is remembered for conducting statistical hospital surveys in Paris. As an historian, he was a scholar of the works of

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; ; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician and philosopher of the Classical Greece, classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referr ...

and editor of

Ambroise Paré Ambroise Paré (; – 20 December 1590) was a French barber surgeon who served in that role for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. He is considered one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology and a pione ...

's writings. In 1841 he was founder of the surgical journal, ''Journal de chirurgie''.

Associated eponyms

* "Malgaigne's amputation": Subastragalar amputation; an

amputation Amputation is the removal of a Limb (anatomy), limb or other body part by Physical trauma, trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as cancer, malign ...

of the foot in which the

astragalus Astragalus may refer to: * ''Astragalus'' (plant), a large genus of herbs and small shrubs *Astragalus (bone) The talus (; Latin for ankle or ankle bone; : tali), talus bone, astragalus (), or ankle bone is one of the group of foot bones known ...

is conserved. * "Malgaigne's fracture": Vertical

pelvic fracture A pelvic fracture is a break of the bony structure of the pelvis. This includes any break of the sacrum, hip bones (ischium, pubis, ilium), or tailbone. Symptoms include pain, particularly with movement. Complications may include internal ble ...

with bilateral

sacroiliac The sacroiliac joint or SI joint (SIJ) is the joint between the sacrum and the ilium bones of the pelvis, which are connected by strong ligaments. In humans, the sacrum supports the spine and is supported in turn by an ilium on each side. The j ...

dislocation and fracture of the pubic rami. * "Malgaigne's hernia": Infantile

inguinal hernia An inguinal hernia or groin hernia is a hernia (protrusion) of abdominal cavity contents through the inguinal canal. Symptoms, which may include pain or discomfort especially with or following coughing, exercise, or bowel movements, are absen ...

prior to the descent of the

testis A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is Homology (biology), homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of Androgen, androgens, p ...

. * "Malgaigne's luxation": Partial dislocation of the head of the

radius In classical geometry, a radius (: radii or radiuses) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its Centre (geometry), center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The radius of a regular polygon is th ...

within the elbow joint. Also known as "nursemaid's elbow". * "Malgaigne's triangle": Also known as the

superior carotid triangle The carotid triangle (or superior carotid triangle) is a portion of the anterior triangle of the neck. Anatomy Boundaries It is bounded: * Posteriorly by (the anterior border of) the sternocleidomastoid muscle, * Anteroinferiorly by (the sup ...

, or as "Malgaigne's fossa".

Selected writings

* ''Manuel de medecine operatoire''; 1834 * ''Traité d'anatomie chirurgicale et de chirurgie expérimentale''; 1838 Garrison & Morton. Morton's Medical Bibliography, Fifth Edition. Entry 5594 * ''Œuvres complètes d’Ambroise Paré, revues et collationnées sur toutes les éditions antérieurs'', Paris, Baillière, 1840–1841, 3 volumes in-8, edition illustrated by a frontispice, a portrait and 217 figures in the text by

Antoine Chazal Antoine Chazal (8 November 1793 in Paris – 12 August 1854 in Paris) was a French painter of flowers and of portraits, as well as an engraver. He studied under Misbach, Bidauld, and Van Spaendonck, and became Professor of Iconography at t ...

(1793–1854). * ''Traité des fractures et des luxations''; 1847.

References

Historiadelamedicina.org, biography translated by Google
* ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of the equivalent article from the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia () is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has :fr:Special:Statistics, encyclopedia artic ...

.''

External links

Online works by Malgaigne
available on Gallica 1806 births 1865 deaths People from Charmes, Vosges Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of Parliament for Seine French surgeons French medical historians {{France-med-bio-stub