Antonio de Gimbernat (1734-1816). Anatomist and surgeon.

While one of us (J.P.-L.) was completing his surgical internship at the Henry Ford Hospital of Detroit, Mich, during 1954 to 1956, he found with surprise that, although surgeons at the hospital could speak Gimbernat's ligament with reference to the treatment of crural hernia, practically none was aware that Antonio de Gimbernat was Spanish-Catalan, to be exact. Others ventured he might be French. We also observed, while attending the celebration of the centennial publication of Bassini's technique in Padua, Italy (1987), that a surprising number of European university professors also believed that Gimbernat was French. Since then, we who have held the same chair for more than 20 years at the Santa Cruz and San Pablo Hospital of Barcelona, Spain, that Gimbernat held in the 18th century have endeavored to vindicate the name of Antonio de Gimbernat i Arbós as the Spanish-Catalan anatomist and surgeon for whom a ligament was named and a surgical technique defined. When applied to the strangulated crural hernia, this surgical technique offers greater promise to the patient during surgery.