Erwin Payr (17 February 1871 – 6 April 1946) was an Austrian-German

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 ...

born in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. Following graduation in 1894 at

, he worked as an assistant at the first

pathological anatomy Anatomical pathology (''Commonwealth'') or anatomic pathology (''U.S.'') is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the gross examination, macroscopic, Histopathology, microscopic, biochemical, immu ...

institute in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Afterwards he became an assistant to Carl Nicoladoni (1847-1902) at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

, where in 1899 he became habilitated for surgery. In 1907 he became chief surgeon at the University of

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpa ...

, and in 1910 was appointed professor of surgery at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

. The following year he relocated to

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 ...

, where he remained until his retirement in 1937. Payr was regarded as an excellent physician known for his expertise in all facets of surgery. He was the first surgeon to use

ozone Ozone () (or trioxygen) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , break ...

treatments in order to control and kill

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

, a practice he learned from Swiss therapist E.A. Fisch. In 1935 he published ''Über Ozonbehandlung in der Chirurgie'' (Ozone Treatment in Surgery). Also he introduced the use of absorbable

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

sutures in vascular and nerve surgery. He first reported animal experiments with readsorbable magnesium tubular device for vascular anastomosis elegantly realizing intima-to-intima facing, however just identifying in that first report its implicit mechanical limits. He used

elderberry ''Sambucus'' is a genus of between 20 and 30 species of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly referred to as elder, with the flowers as elderflower, and the fruit as elderberry. Description Elders are most ...

stems for

capillary A capillary is a small blood vessel, from 5 to 10 micrometres in diameter, and is part of the microcirculation system. Capillaries are microvessels and the smallest blood vessels in the body. They are composed of only the tunica intima (the inn ...

drainage of brain abscesses. Splenic-flexure syndrome or "Payr's disease" is named after a condition he described. Payr's disease is

constipation Constipation is a bowel dysfunction that makes bowel movements infrequent or hard to pass. The Human feces, stool is often hard and dry. Other symptoms may include abdominal pain, bloating, and feeling as if one has not completely passed the ...

due to kinking of an adhesion between the

transverse Transverse may refer to: *Transverse engine, an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the wheels of the vehicle *Transverse flute, a flute that is held horizontally * Transverse force (or ''Euler force''), the tangen ...

and

descending colon In the anatomy of humans and homologous primates, the descending colon is the part of the colon extending from the left colic flexure to the level of the iliac crest (whereupon it transitions into the sigmoid colon). The function of the descen ...

. Also a tool used in abdominal surgery called a "Payr

pylorus The pylorus ( or ) connects the stomach to the duodenum. The pylorus is considered as having two parts, the ''pyloric antrum'' (opening to the body of the stomach) and the ''pyloric canal'' (opening to the duodenum). The ''pyloric canal'' ends a ...

clamp" is named after him, as is "Payr's sign", an indication of

thrombophlebitis Thrombophlebitis is a phlebitis (inflammation of a vein) related to a thrombus (blood clot). When it occurs repeatedly in different locations, it is known as thrombophlebitis migrans (migratory thrombophlebitis). Signs and symptoms The following ...

in which pain occurs when pressure is applied to the sole of the foot.
Mondofacto Dictionary, definition of eponym

References

* ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Payr, Erwin 1871 births 1946 deaths Physicians from Innsbruck German surgeons Academic staff of the University of Graz Academic staff of the University of Greifswald Academic staff of the University of Königsberg Academic staff of Leipzig University Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Germany