August Bier
| August Bier | |
|---|---|
August Bier
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| Born |
24 November 1861 Bad Arolsen, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Kassel, Electorate of Hesse, Kingdom of Prussia |
| Died | 12 March 1949 (aged 87) Sauen, Brandenburg, Germany |
| Citizenship | German |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | surgery, anesthesiology |
| Institutions |
University of Greifswald, University of Bonn, Charité - Universitätsmedizin |
| Known for | spinal anesthesia, intravenous regional anesthesia |
| Influences | Friedrich von Esmarch, William Stewart Halsted, Karl Koller, Heinrich Quincke, Carl Ludwig Schleich, Rudolf Virchow |
| Notable awards | Geheimrat, Eagle Shield of the German Reich, German National Prize for Art and Science |
| Spouse | Anna |
August Karl Gustav Bier (24 November 1861 – 12 March 1949) was a German surgeon. He was the first to perform spinal anesthesia and intravenous regional anesthesia. After professorships in Greifswald and Bonn, Bier became Geheimrat Professor of Surgery and Chief Surgeon at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin in Berlin.
On 16 August 1898, Bier performed the first operation under spinal anesthesia at the Royal Surgical Hospital of the University of Kiel. The patient was scheduled to undergo segmental resection of his left ankle, which was severely infected with tuberculosis, but he dreaded the prospect of general anesthesia because he had suffered severe adverse side effects during multiple previous operations. Therefore, Bier suggested "cocainization" of the spinal cord as an alternative to general anesthesia. Bier injected 15 mg of cocaine intrathecally, which was sufficient to allow him to perform the operation. The subject was fully conscious during the operation, but felt no pain. Two hours after the operation, the subject complained of nausea, vomiting, severe headache, and pain in his back and ankle. The vomiting, back and leg pain improved by the following day, but the headache was still present. Bier performed spinal anesthetics on five more subjects for lower extremity surgery, using a similar technique and achieving similar results.
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