Adolf Lorenz

LORENZ Adolf (born 1854), one of the creators of modern clinical orthopedics. He received his surgical training as a postgraduate in Dumreicher's clinic, working jointly with Nicoladoni; later, he was an assistant to Albert. However, Lorenz's brilliantly begun career in the field of clinical surgery came to an abrupt end. He became a victim of the then-harsh Listerian antisepsis and, due to severe carbolic eczema of the hands, was out of action for a long time. Albert then directed the mind of his talented student toward the study of orthopedic problems. Through a series of major discoveries of a scientific and therapeutic-practical nature, Lorenz earned an authoritative name for himself in this field. In the premises of the former hospital kitchen of the "Vienna General Hospital," he set up an outpatient clinic, which later became a school of orthopedics for doctors from all countries. Having devised alcohol disinfection for his hands instead of carbolic acid, he began performing bloody operations again, placing patients in a ward that had only 4 beds and was set up in the anteroom of someone else's clinic. Following flatfoot, Lorenz systematically studied the pathological morphology of scoliosis, in particular the phenomena of torsion, and pointed out the possibility, by means of hypercorrection and fixation of the lumbar curvature, of forcing patients to actively correct the overlying thoracic arch. In the fight against clubfoot and other deformities, the method of "modeling redressment" developed by Lorenz surpassed previously existing methods.

His means of preventing and treating spinal deformities, especially in tuberculous spondylitis—the plaster bed according to Lorenz—will also remain indispensable. During a period of general enthusiasm for resections and other surgical interventions for bone and joint tuberculosis, Lorenz, having organized extensive outpatient care for these patients, proved the advantages and necessity of orthopedic treatment. The greatest success of Lorenz, which brought him worldwide fame, was the resolution of the age-old problem of curing congenital hip dislocation. On the basis of thorough pathological-anatomical studies, after verification on 200 cases of the "bloody," i.e., open method of Hoffa, Lorenz decided in 1895 to proclaim his method of bloodless reduction as the best, more reliable, and relatively safe. While giving due credit to the preparatory steps of Paci regarding the technique of reduction, Lorenz created a complete method, which has remained classic to this day, not only for hip reposition but also for holding the head in place with the subsequent development of normal function. The victory cost ten years of persistent, exhausting labor and intense struggle against the merciless criticism of surgical leaders. In his old age, Lorenz again took up this question, proving that what is congenital, strictly speaking, is not the hip dislocation itself, but the predisposition to it, and that the task in the future should consist in the prevention of the manifestation of this defect. Furthermore, independently of Bayer, he pointed out the possibility in neglected cases, by means of "bifurcation" (oblique subtrochanteric osteotomy) of the femur, of creating a support for the pelvis, which is deprived of normal support from below due to dislocation of the head or fracture of the neck. Principal works of Lorenz: "Die Lehre vom erworbenen Plattfusse" (Stuttgart, 1883); "Uber die operative Orthopadie des Klumpfusses" (Wien, 1884); "Pathologie u. Therapie der Skoliose" (Wien, 1885); "Pathologie und Therapie der angeborenen Huft-verrenkung auf Grundlage von 100 operativ behandelten Fallen" (Wien-Lpz., 1895); "Uber die Heilung der angeborenen Huftgelenks-verrenkung durch unblutige Einrenkung und funktionelle Belastung" (Wien-Lpz., 1900); "Uber die Behandlung der irreponiblen angeborenen Huftluxationen und der Schenkel-halspseudarthrosen mittels Gabelung" (Wien. klin. Wochenschr., 1919, No. 41). Lit.: Rochl H., Adolf Lorenz, Arch. fur orthopadische u. Unfall-Chirurgie, Band XXIII, 1925; Hass, Adolf Lorenz, Wien. med. Wochenschr., 1924, No. 24; Adolf Lorenz (Die Medizin der Gegenwart in Selbstdarstellungen, herausgegeben v. L. Grote, Band III, Leipzig, 1924).