Alexandru Tzaicu (22 April 1883 – 7 February 1958) was a Romanian

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

known for being the first surgeon to have self-operated an

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 ...

Biography

Alexandru Tzaicu attended

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

and

medical studies Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, being a

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

of the Adamachi Fund of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

. In 1909, in order to demonstrate the qualities of the

spinal anaesthesia Spinal anaesthesia (or spinal anesthesia), also called spinal block, subarachnoid block, intradural block and intrathecal block, is a form of neuraxial regional anaesthesia involving the injection of a local anaesthetic with or without an opi ...

method developed by the surgeons Thoma Ionescu and Amza Jianu, Tzaicu performed an

self-operation. This surgical intervention was described in paper and later allowed him to get a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

. Tzaicu self-operated his left

groin In human anatomy, the groin, also known as the inguinal region or iliac region, is the junctional area between the torso and the thigh. The groin is at the front of the body on either side of the pubic tubercle, where the lower part of the abdom ...

, being the first self-intervention of this kind in the world (the next "first" being the American surgeon

Evan O'Neill Kane Evan O'Neill Kane (April 6, 1861 – April 1, 1932) was an American physician and surgeon from the 1880s to the early 1930s who served as chief of surgery at Kane Summit Hospital in Kane, Pennsylvania. He was a significant contributor in his day ...

who performed in 1921 self-surgery for

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

under

local anesthetic A local anesthetic (LA) is a medication that causes absence of all sensation (including pain) in a specific body part without loss of consciousness, providing local anesthesia, as opposed to a general anesthetic, which eliminates all sensati ...

with

novocaine Procaine is a local anesthetic drug of the amino esters, amino ester group. It is most commonly used in dentistry, dental procedures to numb the area around a tooth and is also used to reduce the pain of intramuscular injection of penicillin. O ...

). The surgery was performed in a sitting position, Tzaicu being assisted by

Ernest Juvara Ernest Juvara (May 5, 1870, Bârlad, Vaslui County – May 5, 1933, Bucharest) was a Romanian physician, innovative in surgical and instrumental techniques. He was a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Bucharest, with contri ...

, a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of surgical

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

at the Iași Medical School. There were photographers who subsequently reported in the press the conduct of the operation, which was described in an article published in the French

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

La Presse Médicale ''La Presse Médicale'' is a French peer-reviewed academic journal of medicine established in 1983. It is published by Elsevier, and is edited by Loic Guillevin and Frédérique Lesaulnier. An English supplement, ''Quarterly Medical Review'', is p ...

''. Extracts from this journal, containing the report of Tzaicu's intervention, were subsequently published by Raymond Nogué in the volume dedicated to

anesthesia Anesthesia (American English) or anaesthesia (British English) is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prev ...

of ''Traité de stomatologie'' and by Thoma Ionescu in his ''La rachianesthésie générale''. After obtaining his doctorate, Tzaicu worked as a surgeon in

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

s in Iași and later opened a private

clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

, ''Sanatoriul Dr. Tzaicu'', located between the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

and the

Costache Negruzzi National College The Costache Negruzzi National College (''Colegiul Național „Costache Negruzzi”'') in Iași is one of the most prestigious high schools in Romania. Founded in 1895 as the ''Boarding High School of Iași'', it was named after the writer and po ...

. He performed an important activity in the field of reconstructive surgeons. He later moved to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

where he continued to profess, having as a

patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by Health professional, healthcare professionals. The patient is most often Disease, ill or Major trauma, injured and in need of therapy, treatment by a physician, nurse, op ...

in May 1938, among others, the

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcaș Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcaș (; also known as Al. Tzigara, Tzigara-Sumurcaș, Tzigara-Samurcash, Tzigara-Samurkasch or Țigara-Samurcaș; April 4, 1872 – April 30, 1952) was a Romanian art historian, Ethnography, ethnographer, Museology, museolog ...

, who suffered an inguinal hernia in the right groin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tzaicu, Alexandru 1883 births 1958 deaths People from Iași County 19th-century Romanian physicians 20th-century Romanian physicians Romanian surgeons Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni 20th-century surgeons