Leonardo Gigli

Leonardo Gigli (30 April 1863, Sesto Fiorentino – 4 April 1908, Florence) was an Italian surgeon and obstetrician remembered for describing Gigli's operation, and for designing the Gigli saw to simplify its performance.

Leonardo Gigli was born in a villa in the town of Sesto Fiorentino on 30 April 1863. He attended school and university in Florence, graduating in medicine and surgery in 1889. He initially worked as assistant to the professor of clinical paediatric surgery, and became assistant in clinical obstetrics and gynaecology in Florence under Professor Domenico Chiara in November 1889.

When Chiara died in 1891 Gigli left Italy, travelling to Paris to work under Tarnier, then to London and Wrocław where he worked under Professor Henry Fritsch from November 1892 to June 1893. During his time in Wrocław who knewhe was also able to attend surgery with Mikulicz; here he first designed the wire saw which was manufactured by the Haertel company. He wrote about the use of this saw, which became known as the Gigli saw, to perform lateral pubiotomy (Gigli's operation) to assist in in July 1893 and again in October 1894 in the Annals of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Milan.

He returned to Florence in March 1894 to work at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, and continued as a proponent of the lateral pubiotomy using the wire saw despite lack of support from colleagues in Italy. He also described the use of his saw for cutting other bones, excepting the skull, in 1897; Professor Alfred Obalinski of Kraków then described its use for craniotomy in the same year.

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