Adolf Lorenz (21 April 1854,

Vidnava Vidnava (, ) is a town in Jeseník District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,200 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Etymology The town's name is derived f ...

– 12 February 1946,

Sankt Andrä-Wördern Sankt Andrä-Wördern is a municipality in the district of Tulln in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Population Notable people * Kurt Waldheim Kurt Josef Waldheim (21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and d ...

) was an Austrian

orthopedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

Career

He studied medicine at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

and subsequently worked as an assistant to

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 ...

Eduard Albert (1841–1900) in Vienna. In 1901 he was one of the founders of the German Society of Orthopaedic Surgery. He was the father of famed ethologist

Konrad Lorenz Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (Austrian ; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoology, zoologist, ethology, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von ...

(1903–1989). Adolf Lorenz is remembered for his work with bone deformities. As a young surgeon during the 1880s, he developed a severe

allergic Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic dermatitis, alle ...

skin reaction to

carbolic acid Phenol (also known as carbolic acid, phenolic acid, or benzenol) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile and can catch fire. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () bon ...

, a compound that was used extensively in operating rooms. Although the condition prevented him from performing traditional surgical operations, he continued in the medical profession as a "dry surgeon", treating patients without cutting into skin or tissue. Subsequently, he was given the nickname "The Bloodless Surgeon of Vienna". His techniques became known as

bloodless surgery is the state of lacking blood. Bloodless may also refer to: * ''Bloodless'' (album), 2025 album by American singer-songwriter Samia * Bloodless surgery, a non-invasive surgical method developed * ''Bloodless'' (video game), a 3D Realms game re ...

, reflecting his noninvasive techniques. He was also a

eugenicist Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetics, genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human Phenotype, phenotypes by ...

who said that babies born prematurely should be left to die rather than develop spastic paralysis. He was renowned for his treatment of congenital

dislocation In materials science, a dislocation or Taylor's dislocation is a linear crystallographic defect or irregularity within a crystal structure that contains an abrupt change in the arrangement of atoms. The movement of dislocations allow atoms to sli ...

of the

hip In vertebrate anatomy, the hip, or coxaLatin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) (: ''coxae'') in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint on t ...

in children. His technique involved putting the patient under light

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 ...

, placing the child in a

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

spica cast An orthopedic cast, commonly referred to simply as a cast, is a form of medical treatment used to immobilize and support bones and soft tissues during the healing process after fractures, surgeries, or severe injuries. By restricting movement, ...

in abduction, then using external rotation as the child matured. Also, he added a specialized walking frame to give the patient a measure of mobility. He created a manipulative treatment for

club feet Clubfoot is a congenital or acquired defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of ca ...

, a process that involved stretching or breaking the

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue, dense fibrous connective tissue that connects skeletal muscle, muscle to bone. It sends the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system, while withstanding tensi ...

ligament A ligament is a type of fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bones to other bones. It also connects flight feathers to bones, in dinosaurs and birds. All 30,000 species of amniotes (land animals with internal bones) have liga ...

s, and

epiphyseal plate The epiphyseal plate, epiphysial plate, physis, or growth plate is a hyaline cartilage plate in the metaphysis at each end of a long bone. It is the part of a long bone where new bone growth takes place; that is, the whole bone is alive, with ma ...

s until the foot was properly aligned. Once alignment was achieved, he applied a cast so that the foot healed in the corrected position. Through the use of traction and

pulley Sheave without a rope A pulley is a wheel on an axle or shaft enabling a taut cable or belt passing over the wheel to move and change direction, or transfer power between itself and a shaft. A pulley may have a groove or grooves between flan ...

s, Lorenz developed a mechanism for treatment of

scoliosis Scoliosis (: scolioses) is a condition in which a person's Vertebral column, spine has an irregular curve in the coronal plane. The curve is usually S- or C-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others ...

. Due to his fame in orthopedics, he became acquainted with several dignitaries, including U.S. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

. During his travels in the United States, he gave an inspirational exhibition in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, an exhibition that became a catalyst in the creation of the Texas Baptist Memorial Sanitarium, later known as the Baylor University Medical Center and Baylor Health Care System.

Personal life

Lorenz married his assistant, physician Emma Lecher. The family owned a large estate at Altenburg, including a "fantastical neo-baroque mansion" which Konrad Lorenz inherited, and had a city apartment in Vienna.Anatomy of Restlessness- Uncollected Writings, Bruce Chatwin, Picador, 1997, p. 141

References

Pub Med Central
The Legacy of Professor Adolf Lorenz, the "bloodless surgeon of Vienna".
Website of the Adolf and Albert Lorenz Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorenz, Adolf Austrian surgeons 1854 births 1946 deaths People from Vidnava People from Austrian Silesia 19th-century Austrian physicians 20th-century Austrian scientists Surgeons from Austria-Hungary