The dawn of paediatric surgery: Johannes Fatio (1649-1691)--his life, his work and his horrible end.

Abstract

Johannes Fatio was probably the first surgeon who systematically studied and treated surgical condition of children. Born in Basle in 1649, he never studied medicine at the university there but became a member of the barber's guild. Later he studied medicine and became a doctor of the University of Valence. He returned to Basle to practice surgery, midwifery and paediatric surgery. He wrote a number of medical books, but only one, The Helvetic Reasonable Midwife, still exists. In it he devotes a whole section to surgical afflictions of children. He describes ingenuous operations for such conditions as hypospadias, hydrocolpos, imperforate anus and many more. He was the first surgeon successfully to separate conjoined twins. He became involved in the turbulent politics of the city of Basle and was largely responsible for the overthrow and modern ratio of the Basle parliament and government. In the following counter-revolution he was captured, imprisoned, tortured and executed. All his written works were destroyed by the authorities; The Helvetic Reasonable Midwife was published 70 years after his death.