“The surgeon who should attempt to suture a wound of the heart would lose the respect of his colleagues…”
Theodor Billroth
On 9th September 1896 Frankfurt surgeon Ludwig Rehn, decided to operate on a critically ill patient. The 21 year old male had received a single stab wound to the left chest the day before. He was moribund. Rehn opened the left chest and encountered an actively bleeding 1.5cm hole in the right ventricle. Current surgical dogma was that this was a hopeless situation. The heart could not be operated on, as it would be come irritable or cease beating if manipulated. Expert opinion was that the operation was over. Regardless. Rehn chose to suture the heart with a needle and silk. The patient survived. I now spend a lot of my time identifying errors in surgical care and deviations from best surgical practice. Was Ludwig Rehn a visionary pioneer, or dangerous rogue who got lucky? Such moments were controversial in 1896 and sadly still an issue in 2026. #hissecondcasediedinstantly #letsmakelemonade
Pen Paint and Scalpel 