Siegel I M
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Strauss Surgical Group Association, S.C.
Orthop Rev. 1988 Nov;17(11):1156, 1161-6.
William John Little had in many respects a unique career. He suffered childhood poliomyelitis with residual left lower extremity paraparesis, complicated by severe talipes. As a youth he was an apothecary's apprentice, surrendering his indentures at the age of 18 and entering medical school at the London Hospital. He was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons in 1832. He later travelled to Germany to study the technique of subcutaneous tenotomy with its originator, Louis Stromeyer, who subsequently corrected Little's deformed foot by this method. His doctoral dissertation (1837) was the first monograph on tenotomy ever published, and he became the apostle of this operation for the correction of skeletal deformity secondary to neuromuscular disease. Little founded the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital of London. Among his many publications was "On the Deformities of the Human Frame" (1853) in which he first described pseudohypertrophic muscular dystrophy (antedating Duchenne's paper by eight years), as well as cerebral spastic palsy (Little's Disease). The techniques originated by Stromeyer and applied by Little are used today in the surgical management of muscular dystrophy. William Little was one of the first to bridge the gap between neurology and orthopaedics and his important work continues to impact on both these fields.
威廉·约翰·利特尔在很多方面都有着独特的职业生涯。他童年时患过小儿麻痹症，遗留左侧下肢轻瘫，并伴有严重的足畸形。年轻时，他曾是一名药剂师学徒，18岁时放弃学徒身份，进入伦敦医院医学院学习。1832年，他被皇家外科医学院录取。后来他前往德国，与皮下切断术的发明者路易·施特罗迈尔一同研究该技术，施特罗迈尔随后用此方法矫正了利特尔畸形的足部。他的博士论文（1837年）是有史以来发表的第一篇关于切断术的专著，他也成为了用该手术矫正神经肌肉疾病继发骨骼畸形的倡导者。利特尔创办了伦敦皇家骨科医院。在他众多的出版物中，有《论人体畸形》（1853年），他在其中首次描述了假肥大型肌营养不良（比迪谢纳的论文早八年）以及脑性痉挛性麻痹（利特尔病）。施特罗迈尔开创并让利特尔应用的技术如今仍用于肌营养不良的外科治疗。威廉·利特尔是最早弥合神经学与骨科之间差距的人之一，他的重要工作至今仍对这两个领域产生着影响。
