Date of birth: 16/05/1850

Date of death: 14/06/1905

Wikipedia

##BIOGRAPHY

Jan Mikulicz-Radecki was a Polish-German surgeon.

After completing his medical studies at the University of Vienna, he worked with Professor Christian Albert Theodor Billroth at the Surgical Clinic and later became the director of surgery at the universities in Kraków, Königsberg, and Breslau. Mikulicz-Radecki made several pioneering contributions, including the first suturing of a ruptured gastric ulcer in 1885 and the development of pyloric plastic surgery in 1887 (now known as Heineke-Mikulicz pyloroplasty).

In 1889, he emphasized the importance of lymph node dissection for curative intent in gastric cancer surgery. He performed the first intraoperative widening of a strictured esophagus and presented techniques for the visualization of the esophagus and stomach (1880/81).

He also improved a previously existing two-stage colon resection procedure, which is now known as the Paul-Mikulicz operation. Mikulicz-Radecki developed a surgical method for treating total rectal prolapse and, independently of Vladimirov, created a method for osteoplastic foot resection, now referred to as Vladimirov-Mikulicz surgery.

He was also the first to perform a wedge resection of the thyroid gland. In 1888, he described the enlargement of the salivary and lacrimal glands, a condition now known as Mikulicz disease, which is linked to Sjogren’s syndrome. In this context, he identified giant cells in the nasal cavity, which are now called Mikulicz cells.

He invented several surgical instruments, including the scoliometer and harpoon forceps (known as Mikulicz ticks), and promoted the use of antiseptics, such as iodoform, along with aseptic measures like cotton surgical gloves. The cotton masks first used to cover the mouth and nose are known as Mikulicz masks.

Additionally, he introduced an ointment containing silver nitrate, which is still used today for treating difficult-to-heal surgical wounds. Over his career, he published more than 230 scientific papers.