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Archiver > ENG-LIVERPOOL > 2006-06 > 1151652341
From: "Jean R." <>
Subject: THEME: HEALTH -- THOMAS/JONES Orthopaedics/Liverpool - Ancestors, Welsh "bone-setters"
Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2006 00:25:41 -0700
SNIPPET: Hugh Owen THOMAS (1834-1891) is widely regarded by many as a great pioneer in British orthopaedic surgery. He came from a family of bone-setters, whose origins lay on the island of Anglesey in North Wales, and whose secrets had been passed down from father to son for generations. His father, Evan THOMAS, moved to Liverpool at the age of 19 years. He was determined that his son should receive a regular medical education and, as a result, Hugh was apprenticed to his uncle, Dr Owen ROBERTS at St Asaph in North Wales for four years. THOMAS later studied medicine in Edinburgh and University College London and qualified MRCS in 1857. He never served with any university lecturer nor was he ever appointed as a house surgeon. He returned to Liverpool to help his father, however, this working relationship failed and in 1859 he moved to a separate part of the city, setting up his own independent practice. He spent most of his professional life in the slums of Liverpoo!
l treating the poor rather than the affluent Victorian middle classes. In the treatment of tuberculosis and fractures, he strongly advocated the use of rest which should be 'enforced, uninterrupted and prolonged'. His ideas, published in 1857, were against many of the principle of the day which often suggested excision or amputation for chronic bone disorders. In order to achieve rest and immobilisation he invented several types of splints, with rigid steel bars, that were manufactured in his own work shop by both a blacksmith and a saddler. He also invented a wrench for the reduction of fractures and an osteoclast to break and reset bones. His contribution to the management of fractures was not widely recognised until after his death and in particular the onset of the First World War. Thanks to the use of the 'Thomas splint' the mortality of compound fractures of the femur fell from 80% in 1916 to less than 8% in 1918.
His world-famous nephew, Sir Robert JONES (1855-1933), introduced many of his uncle's ideas to the surgical community. In 1896, JONES published the first report of the clinical use of an x-ray to locate a bullet in a wrist. He founded several associations and orthopaedic hospitals. JONES wrote several important book such as "Injuries of Joints" in 1915 and "Notes on Military Orthopaedics" in 1917. His textbook "Orthopaedic Surgery" is said to have been the first to have dealt systematically with the diagnosis and treatment of fresh fractures. In the First World War, JONES headed the orthopaedic section of the British Forces. JONES was an advocate of tendon transplantation, bone grafting, and other conservative, restorative procedures.
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