Limjoco U R, Landon C W, Ragland J J
Department of General Surgery, Naval Medical Center, San Diego, Calif 92134-5000, USA.
Can J Surg. 1995 Apr;38(2):183-7.
Wound care through the ages has ranged from good to bad, and at times has been disgusting, with little scientific approach. von Eiselsberg's dictum of no touch for military wounds proved disastrous to patients with gunshot and shrapnel wounds in the First World War. Alexis Carrel, a brilliant experimental surgeon, spearheaded the research that led to the development and application of débridement and irrigation for combat wounds. Early in his career, Carrel reported on a miraculous cure that he had observed in Lourdes, France. However, this report resulted in a strained professional environment in his homeland of France, which persisted in spite of his subsequent moves to Canada and then to the United States. There he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.
