Max Saenger () (14 March 1853,

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

– 12 January 1903,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

) was a German

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

and

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

who was a native of

. He studied medicine at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, then continued with graduate studies in OB/GYN and

pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

under

Carl Siegmund Franz Credé Carl Siegmund Franz Credé (23 December 1819 – 14 March 1892) was a German gynecologist and obstetrician born in Berlin, most famous for preventing neonatal conjunctivitis via Credé's prophylaxis, a dilute silver nitrate solution dropped into ...

(1819–1892). He later became a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, and in 1890 was appointed professor of OB/GYN at the German University in Prague. In 1894 he co-founded the journal ''Monatsschrift für Geburtshilfe und Gynäkologie''. In 1882 he introduced the practice of sutural closure of the

uterus The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', : uteri or uteruses) or womb () is the hollow organ, organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic development, embryonic and prenatal development, f ...

following

Caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

operations. The previous autumn, Ferdinand Adolf Kehrer (1837-1914) performed the first lower segment Caesarean section in Europe. Sänger's contribution preserved the mother's uterus and helped reduce the chance of infection. Afterwards, Kehrer and other

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 ...

s adopted Sänger's methodology. Sänger used silver and silk thread as suture material.

Silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

sutures had been introduced into medicine by the American gynecologist James Marion Sims (1813-1883). Sänger was originally

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish, but later converted to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. Despite his conversion, he suffered discrimination due to his Jewish background.Gynekologen Max Sänger og hans forhold til Nina og Edvard Grieg
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Terminology

* ''Saenger's suture'': the closure of the

uterine The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', : uteri or uteruses) or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more fertilized eggs until bir ...

wound in

by eight or ten deep silver wire sutures, and the use of twenty or more superficial stitches taken through the

peritoneum The peritoneum is the serous membrane forming the lining of the abdominal cavity or coelom in amniotes and some invertebrates, such as annelids. It covers most of the intra-abdominal (or coelomic) organs, and is composed of a layer of mesotheli ...

. * ''Saenger's operation'': Cesarean section followed by careful closure of the uterine wound by three tiers of sutures. Also described as a Caesarean section in which the uterus is taken out through a long abdominal cut before the

fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...

is removed.

Literature

* The Illustrated American Medical Dictionary (1938)
NCBI
National Library of Medicine; Max Sänger

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saenger, Max 1853 births 1903 deaths 19th-century German physicians German obstetricians German gynaecologists Academic staff of Leipzig University Physicians from the Kingdom of Bavaria People from Bayreuth German people of Jewish descent Converts to Lutheranism from Judaism 19th-century Lutherans